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1-10 of 10
- Actress
- Director
- Soundtrack
They say big things often come in small packages, and never was that saying more true than when sizing up the talents of that diminutive dynamo Nancy Walker. Born Anna Myrtle Swoyer in Philadelphia on May 10, 1922, she lived a born-in-a-trunk existence as the daughter of vaudevillian Dewey Barto (né Stewart Steven Swoyer). At the time of his run of Broadway's "Hellzapoppin", Barto was part of the comedy team of Barto & Mann (George Mann). Her younger sister, Betty Lou Barto (born 1930), had a less impressive and briefer performing career. Although she had designs on becoming a legit singer, it was hard for others to take Nancy seriously with her naturally aggressive manner backed up by this tiny frame. Comedy became her forte.
Broadway legend George Abbott picked up on her innate comic abilities immediately and set her up as his blind date in the Broadway musical smash "Best Foot Forward" in 1941. The show, starring June Allyson, was a certifiable hit, and when MGM turned Best Foot Forward (1943) into a musical film, Nancy, as well as June, went right along with it. Nancy continued giving top support for MGM in the Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney starrer Girl Crazy (1943) and in Broadway Rhythm (1944). Back on Broadway, Nancy all but stole the proceedings as the hoydenish cabbie Hildy Esterhazy, who pursues a sailor on leave, in "On the Town" (1944). After a brief first marriage, she met vocal coach David Craig during the 1948 run of "Look, Ma, I'm Dancing", when she was plagued by vocal problems. They married a few years later and had a daughter, Miranda. When Nancy left the show, she was replaced by her sister, Betty Lou Barto. Other musical plaudit came her way, including Tony nominations for the revue "Phoenix '55" and for her lead role in "Do Re Mi" with Phil Silvers.
Nancy experienced some tough, lean years in the late 1950s and 1960s until she found TV an accepting medium. She became popular all over again, and a household name to boot, as Rosie the waitress in a series of Bounty paper-towel commercials. At around the same time, she won a regular role as Mildred, the sardonic maid on McMillan & Wife (1971). Her prototypical wisecracking role, however, came as the outlandish Jewish mom Ida Morgenstern, mother of Valerie Harper's "Rhoda" character on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970).
When Harper spun off into her own series--Rhoda (1974)--interfering Ida was right alongside her still-unmarried daughter, wreaking havoc. Alas, nominated for eight Emmys and four Golden Globe Awards for her collective work on series TV, she never won. Her renewed popularity, however, led to a couple of TV star vehicles that plainly didn't suit her second-banana talents. Neither lasted very long. She eventually moved into stage and film directing. Nancy made her final regular TV-series appearance on the sitcom True Colors (1990), playing another of her long line of delightfully brash buttinskys. During the run of the show, she was diagnosed with lung cancer and died about six weeks before her 70th birthday in 1992. She was survived by her husband, daughter, and sister.- Producer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Production Manager
Howard Christie was born on 16 September 1912 in Orinda, California, USA. He was a producer and assistant director, known for Wagon Train (1957), Against All Flags (1952) and The Golden Horde (1951). He died on 25 March 1992 in Oak View, California, USA.- Barbara Frum was born in Niagara Falls, New York on September 8, 1937, the daughter of a successful local retailer; but she grew up across the river in Niagara Falls, Ontario. She married Toronto dentist Murray Frum at the age of 19, and they had three children: David, Linda and Matthew. Frum began her career as a journalist by writing for such publications as The Globe & Mail, The Toronto Star, and Saturday Night. She later achieved much fame on CBC Radio, co-hosting As It Happens; then on CBC Television, as host of The Journal for nearly a decade. She was also a champion of women's and Jewish causes in Canada. Sadly, her life was cut short by leukemia at age 54. Her daughter Linda is the author of an acclaimed biography of her mother.
- Andres Bossard was born on 9 August 1944 in Zürich, Switzerland. He was an actor, known for Viva el espectáculo (1990), Mummenschanz (1978) and Karussell (1977). He died on 25 March 1992.
- Leonard Mosley was born on 11 February 1913 in Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK. He was a writer, known for They Can't Hang Me (1955), Foxhole in Cairo (1960) and Film Profile (1955). He died on 25 March 1992 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France.
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Dzhangir Dzhangirov was born on 20 July 1921 in Balakhany, Azerbaijan. Dzhangir was a composer, known for Daglarda döyüs (1968), Crash (2018) and Qizil uçurum (1980). Dzhangir died on 25 March 1992 in Baku, Azerbaijan.- Bill Sears was born on 28 March 1911 in Duluth, Minnesota, USA. He was an actor, known for In the Park (1951) and The Ed Sullivan Show (1948). He died on 25 March 1992 in Tucson, Arizona, USA.
- Oscar Otis was one of the leading writers on horse racing and the turf in general during the middle of the Twentieth Century. Starting out as a kid selling copies of the San Diego "Daily Bulletin" on street corners and in saloons, he soon began haunting the stables, paddocks, and race tracks of Southern California and northern Mexico and learned the language of the turf and of its denizens; as a racetrack announcer, and later as a professional newspaperman, turf writer and editor for various publications, including the "Daily Racing Form," he soon became one of the most knowledgeable turf journalists of his time, with his "Double-O" column in the Los Angeles "Times" being one of the most detailed and well-written accounts of thoroughbred racing during this period. He served in the U. S. Marine Corps during World War II and in later years, with his wife, owned a small farm in the San Joaquin Valley where they grew almonds and had a vineyard.
- Saprina Darzhanska was born on 26 November 1926 in Kostenetz, Bulgaria. Saprina was an editor, known for Milost za zhivite (1981), Noshtnite bdeniya na pop Vecherko (1980) and Vibratzii (1984). Saprina died on 25 March 1992 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
- Cliff Carter was born on 5 April 1902. He was an actor, known for Seeing Things (1981). He was married to Phyllis Carter. He died on 25 March 1992 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.