Dorothy Meyer (November , â€" September , ) was an American character
actress of film and television who made a name for herself portraying
wisecracking maids, neighbors, friends, nurses, and church ladies
throughout the s and s.She was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on
November , , the daughter of a Presbyterian minister, a religion to
which she adhered to throughout her entire life. During her childhood,
she initially began her career as an actress singing and dancing in
numerous Christian themed productions on The Bible Belt and was later
inspired to further pursue acting following the Oscar win of
African-American actress Hattie McDaniel in Gone With The Wind. During
World War II, she worked as both a secretary and typist in a steel
factory in her native Indiana during the daytime and later started
appearing in amateur theatre during nights and her weekends off. In
the early s, she moved to California and began her career modeling,
appearing in advertisements for such popular brand names as Maxwell
House Coffee, Hallmark Greeting Cards, Westinghouse, Walgreens, Sears
Roebuck, and Hersey's Chocolates. After two decades of advertisement
modeling, she made her small screen debut in a episode of The Bill
Cosby Show. Between and , she would have credits to her resume,
including appearances on such syndicated programs as That's My Mama,
Sanford and Son, The Waltons, Starsky and Hutch, The Jeffersons, Lou
Grant, Hill Street Blues, Murder, She Wrote, and . She enjoyed a
successful career and appeared alongside such notables as Linda Blair,
Richard Pryor, and Muhammad Ali.Aside from acting, she was also noted
as being a staunch liberal Democrat and African American rights
activist, who was very supportive of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People and spoke on numerous occasions
regarding civil liberties in low-income communities. She also had a
great deal of support and admiration for the administrations of John
F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter. Meyer died in Los Angeles, California on
September , , from undisclosed causes, at the age of . As per her last
will and testament, was cremated with her ashes scattered at sea. She
was unmarried, had no children, and her only survivors were distant
cousins, two older brothers, one sister, and a few nieces and nephews.
Two films she had made at the time of her death, Moving () and
Wildfire (), were released posthumously.
actress of film and television who made a name for herself portraying
wisecracking maids, neighbors, friends, nurses, and church ladies
throughout the s and s.She was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on
November , , the daughter of a Presbyterian minister, a religion to
which she adhered to throughout her entire life. During her childhood,
she initially began her career as an actress singing and dancing in
numerous Christian themed productions on The Bible Belt and was later
inspired to further pursue acting following the Oscar win of
African-American actress Hattie McDaniel in Gone With The Wind. During
World War II, she worked as both a secretary and typist in a steel
factory in her native Indiana during the daytime and later started
appearing in amateur theatre during nights and her weekends off. In
the early s, she moved to California and began her career modeling,
appearing in advertisements for such popular brand names as Maxwell
House Coffee, Hallmark Greeting Cards, Westinghouse, Walgreens, Sears
Roebuck, and Hersey's Chocolates. After two decades of advertisement
modeling, she made her small screen debut in a episode of The Bill
Cosby Show. Between and , she would have credits to her resume,
including appearances on such syndicated programs as That's My Mama,
Sanford and Son, The Waltons, Starsky and Hutch, The Jeffersons, Lou
Grant, Hill Street Blues, Murder, She Wrote, and . She enjoyed a
successful career and appeared alongside such notables as Linda Blair,
Richard Pryor, and Muhammad Ali.Aside from acting, she was also noted
as being a staunch liberal Democrat and African American rights
activist, who was very supportive of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People and spoke on numerous occasions
regarding civil liberties in low-income communities. She also had a
great deal of support and admiration for the administrations of John
F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter. Meyer died in Los Angeles, California on
September , , from undisclosed causes, at the age of . As per her last
will and testament, was cremated with her ashes scattered at sea. She
was unmarried, had no children, and her only survivors were distant
cousins, two older brothers, one sister, and a few nieces and nephews.
Two films she had made at the time of her death, Moving () and
Wildfire (), were released posthumously.
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