Nancy Walker
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
Walker has been Tony-nominated twice and Emmy-nominated eight times.
"I'm filled with rages. I'm, the most irate woman I've ever known. Most of the time I'm, quiet. You would never know I could kill. Oh yes. I explode." --Nancy Walker quoted in TV Guide
Biography
Pint-sized comedienne-singer who electrified Broadway at age 19 with her debut as a wisecracking ugly-duckling blind date in the Hugh Martin-Ralph Blaine musical "Best Foot Forward" (1941). In 1943, Walker reprised the role in MGM's sassy film version and played a similar part in the remake of the Gershwins' "Girl Crazy."
A child of vaudevillians, Walker parlayed her wickedly sarcastic deadpan delivery and unconventional looks into a unique comic persona. Perhaps her greatest showcase was "On the Town" (1944), as an aggressively man-chasing taxi driver who tries to persuade a sailor on leave to forego the tourist sites and "Come Up to My Place." Established as a Broadway favorite, Walker next starred as a Marxist coed in the George Abbott-directed musical "Barefoot Boy with Cheek" (1947) and as an heiress-turned-ballerina in the musical "Look Ma, I'm Dancing" (1948). She played Gladys in the acclaimed 1952 revival of "Pal Joey," starred in "Phoenix '55" (1953) and played opposite Phil Silvers in "Do-Re-Mi" (1960), a Comden-Green-Styne musical about jukebox rackets.
On TV, Walker parlayed a high-profile paper towel commercial into a role as Rock Hudson's housekeeper on "McMillan and Wife" (1971-76). She later delighted viewers as Valerie Harper's overbearing Jewish mother, first on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and then on the spin-off series "Rhoda" (1974-78). In 1976 she played a wisecracking Hollywood talent agent in her own short-lived series and, when that failed, starred as a wisecracking Las Vegas landlady in "Blansky's Beauties!" (1977).
Walker turned to directing with the Broadway production of James Kirkwood's "UTBU" in 1965 and subsequently became one of TV's busiest women directors, helming episodes of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Rhoda" and "Alice." She made her feature directing debut with the misbegotten Village People disco musical "Can't Stop the Music" (1980) and had returned to sitcoms, playing a mother with a black son-in-law in "True Colors," at the time of her death.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Life Events
1941
Broadway debut, "Best Foot Forward" at the Barrymore Theater, New York
1943
First feature role, "Best Foot Forward"
1948
Starred in first non-musical Broadway play, "Waltz Me Around Again"
1951
Toured USA in production of "Roaring Girl"
1954
Opened nightclub act at the San Souci in Miami Beach
1962
Made directing debut with "The Pushcart Affair" which foled on the road
1966
Broadway directing debut with production of James Kirkwood's farce, "UTBU" (Unhealthy to Be Unpleasant) at the Helen Hayes Theater
1970
Debuted her Rosie character in Bounty paper towel commercials
1970
Moved to Los Angeles
1971
Appeared in final stage musical, a revival of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" opposite Phil Silvers at the Los Angeles Music Center
1976
Starred in own TV series, "The Nancy Walker Show" (also performed theme song, "Nancy's Blues")
1977
Starred as Nancy Blansky, den mother for a bevy of Las Vegas showgirls, in the TV sitcom, "Blansky's Beauties"
1979
Directed first TV-movie, "13 Queens Boulevard"
1980
Directed feature film, "Can't Stop The Music"
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Walker has been Tony-nominated twice and Emmy-nominated eight times.
"I'm filled with rages. I'm, the most irate woman I've ever known. Most of the time I'm, quiet. You would never know I could kill. Oh yes. I explode." --Nancy Walker quoted in TV Guide
She received the Genii Award from American Women in Radio and TV in 1975.
Posthumously inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 1997
