, and
Brian Keith on
Family Affair (1970) In 1937, as "Nan Barto", Walker appeared on the
NBC radio programs
Coast to Coast on a Bus and
Our Barn. She made her
Broadway debut in 1941 in
Best Foot Forward. The role provided Walker with her film debut, when she signed a contract with
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to appear in the 1943
film version, starring
Lucille Ball. She also appeared with
Mickey Rooney and
Judy Garland in the second film version of
Girl Crazy (1943). 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 continued acting throughout the 1940s and 1950s, originating the roles of Hildy Eszterhazy ("I Can Cook, Too!") in
On the Town (1944), Yetta Samovar in
Barefoot Boy with Cheek (1947), and Lily Malloy in ''
Look, Ma, I'm Dancin'! (1948) on Broadway. 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. 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. Owing to her television contractual responsibilities, she was unable to transfer with the show to Broadway. Her musical appearances led to record releases, including
I Hate Men (1959; with
Sid Bass and his orchestra, featuring such show tunes as "
I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair", and "You Irritate Me So"); the cover featured Walker humorously sticking male dolls with pins. '', 1970 Dozens of television guest appearances and recurring roles followed, providing her with steady work. Her career spanned five decades and included comedies, dramas, and television variety shows such as ''
Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town, The Garry Moore Show, and The Carol Burnett Show''. In the 1960–61 television season, she appeared in two episodes of
NBC's
The Tab Hunter Show. In 1970, she secured a recurring role as Emily, the housekeeper, on the television series
Family Affair, which starred
Brian Keith. After five seasons, though, the ratings of
Family Affair had plummeted opposite NBC's popular
The Flip Wilson Show. The series was canceled at the end of that season. In 1970, she also made her first appearance playing Ida Morgenstern, the mother of
Valerie Harper's character
Rhoda Morgenstern on the first season of
The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The role proved to be ideal for her. 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. Walker thereafter became an annual guest star on the show for the next three years. When the MTM spinoff series
Rhoda premiered in 1974, Walker was a regular cast member in 41 episodes. From 1971 to 1976, she was a regular on the successful
Rock Hudson detective series
McMillan & Wife, playing the McMillans' housekeeper, Mildred. 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. These two roles brought her seven
Emmy Award nominations. In 1976, ABC-TV offered Walker a contract to headline her own series,
The Nancy Walker Show, which was produced by
Norman Lear's production company, in which she starred as Nancy Kittredge, a talent agent. Walker appeared on a second-season episode of
The Muppet Show. Before she filmed the first episode of the series, Walker made her only appearance on
Rhoda for the 1976–77 season. In the season premiere, "The Separation", Rhoda (Valerie Harper) and her husband Joe (
David Groh) decide to separate. Rhoda tries to keep the news from her mother Ida (Walker), since Ida is about to embark on a year-long trip across America with Rhoda's father (
Harold Gould). Ida learns the truth from Rhoda prior to Ida's departure. Almost immediately,
Garry Marshall signed Walker for another series, ''
Blansky's Beauties. The main character of the series was introduced a week before the series premiere in an episode of the hit sitcom, Happy Days. The show premiered on ABC-TV in February 1977 with Walker playing Nancy Blansky, den mother to a group of Las Vegas showgirls. It failed to find an audience and was canceled in May 1977, giving Walker the unenviable distinction of being in two failed series in the same year. She returned to Rhoda
at the beginning of the 1977–78 season (giving the show a much-needed boost in the ratings, which had fallen the previous year), and remained with the series for the rest of its run. During this time, she began directing, including episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show
, Rhoda, 13 Queens Boulevard, and Alice''. One of Walker's last major film roles was in the 1976 all-star comedy spoof
Murder by Death. She continued to remain active in show business until her death, playing Rosie, a
New Jersey diner waitress in a series of commercials for
Bounty paper towels from 1970 to 1990. She helped make the product's
slogan, "the quicker picker-upper", a common
catchphrase. She credited the towel commercials with landing her the role of Ida Morgenstern. Among her final guest appearances in a television series was the recurring role of Aunt Angela, Sophia Petrillo's (
Estelle Getty) widowed sister, on
The Golden Girls, for which she received an Emmy Award nomination.
Golden Girls creator
Susan Harris then cast Walker opposite
Bruce Weitz in her NBC sitcom project ''
Mama's Boy'', which aired as six comedy specials during the 1987–88 season, but never reached series status. In 1990, Walker began starring on the
Fox sitcom
True Colors as Sara Bower, the outspoken mother of Ellen Davis Freeman (
Stephanie Faracy), who moves into Ellen's household despite having objections to her daughter's interracial marriage. In 1990, Walker appeared as herself in the
Columbo episode "Uneasy Lies the Crown". ==Directing career==