Ann Morgan Guilbert was a renowned actress, best known for her iconic roles as Millie Helper on The Dick Van Dyke Show and Grandma Yetta on The Nanny. Throughout her illustrious career, she delivered unforgettable performances in film, television, and on stage, with recent highlights including the 2010 Sundance Film Festival selection, Please Give.
Guilbert made her second Broadway appearance in "A Naked Girl on the Appian Way" in 2005, alongside Jill Clayburgh and Hamish Linklater, following her earlier appearance in "The Billy Barnes Revue" many years prior. Her extensive stage credits include "The Matchmaker," "Arsenic and Old Lace," "The Road to Mecca," "Life Lines: An Afternoon with Ann Guilbert," "A Lie of the Mind," "Three Men on a Horse," "To Kill A Mockingbird," "Harvey," "Foxfire," "Blooding Wedding," "Misalliance," "Green Grow the Lilacs," "The School for Scandal," "The Royal Family," "Major Barbara," "Fifth of July," "Growing Gracefully," "Life Times Ten," "Nobody's Safe Here," "The Legacy," "Nite, Mother," and "The Immigrant: A Hamilton County Album."
Guilbert won the 1988 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Non-Resident Production for her role as Alma in "The Immigrant: A Hamilton County Album" at Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage. She graduated from Stanford University's Department of Speech and Drama, where she met her first husband, producer/writer George Eckstein. They had two daughters, actress Hallie Todd and longtime acting teacher and writer Nora Eckstein, before divorcing in 1966. Guilbert then married character actor Guy Raymond in 1969, and they were together until his death in 1997. Ann Morgan Guilbert passed away on June 14, 2016, at the age of 87, after a courageous battle with cancer.
