Nancy Walker (born Anna Myrtle Swoyer;[note 1][citation needed] May 10, 1922 – March 25, 1992)[1] was an American actress and comedian of stage, screen, and television.

She was also a film and television director (lending her talents to The Mary Tyler Moore Show, on which she also made several guest appearances).

During her five-decade-long career, she had long-running roles as Mildred on McMillan & Wife and as Ida Morgenstern on several episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and on the spinoff series Rhoda as a prominent recurring character.

Her next film, Broadway Rhythm, in which she had a featured musical number backed by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra, "Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet", ended Walker's contract with MGM.

She was nominated for a Tony Award in 1956 for her work in the musical revue Phoenix '55, and again in 1960 for her performance in Do Re Mi, opposite Phil Silvers.

[3] Walker also starred in the short-lived Broadway musical comedy Copper and Brass in 1957, and appeared in the 1958 New York City Center production of Wonderful Town.

For the early 1970s revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, she appeared again opposite Silvers, playing the character of Domina.

In 1970, she secured a recurring role as Emily, the housekeeper, on the television series Family Affair, which starred Brian Keith.

The episode that introduced her character, "Support Your Local Mother", was so well received that it won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing Achievement in a Comedy Series for James L. Brooks and Allan Burns.

During the first two years of Rhoda, Walker was not featured every week, so she was able to shuttle back and forth between the CBS sitcom and the NBC detective series.

She continued to remain active in show business until her death, playing Rosie, a New Jersey diner waitress,appearing in The Golden Girlsas Sophia's sister Angela, in a series of commercials for Bounty paper towels from 1970 to 1990.

Biographer Patricia Bosworth stated the two first met in 1948, but did not become good friends until 10 years later, after Clift's disfiguring car accident.