Dorothy Meyer
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Dorothy Meyer | |
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![]() in Sanford and Son (1973) | |
Born | Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. | November 6, 1924
Died | September 24, 1987 Los Angeles, California, U.S. | (aged 62)
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1931–1987 |
Dorothy Meyer (November 6, 1924 – September 24, 1987) was an African American character actress of film and television who made a name for herself portraying wisecracking maids, neighbors, friends, nurses, and church ladies throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
Life and career
She was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on November 6, 1924, 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 herself as an actress following the historical Oscar win of 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 1950s, 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 1971 episode of The Bill Cosby Show. Between 1971 and 1987, she would have 42 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 227. She enjoyed a successful career and appeared alongside such notables as Linda Blair, Richard Pryor, and Muhammad Ali.[1]
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 24, 1987, from undisclosed causes, at the age of 62. 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 (1988) and Wildfire (1988), were released posthumously.
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Episode |
---|---|---|---|
1988 | Wildfire | Esther | |
1988 | Moving | Grandma | |
1987 | 227 (TV Series) | Ruby Jenkins | Happy Twentieth (1987) ... Ruby Jenkins |
1986 | Murder, She Wrote (TV Series) | Nurse O'Hanlon | Deadline for Murder (1986) ... Nurse O'Hanlon |
1986 | Cobra | Nurse #1 | |
1986 | Hollywood Vice Squad | Heavyset Woman | |
1985 | Do You Remember Love (TV Movie) | Social Director | |
1983-1985 | Hill Street Blues (TV Series) | Witness | Davenport in a Storm (1985) ... Witness |
1983-1985 | Hill Street Blues (TV Series) | Cook | The Russians Are Coming (1983) ... Cook |
1984 | Gimme a Break! (TV Series) | Sarah Banks | Valentine (1984) ... Sarah Banks |
1983 | Ryan's Four (TV Series) | Ryan's Four (1983) | |
1983 | Newhart (TV Series) | Nurse | Ricky Nelson, Up Your Nose (1983) ... Nurse |
1982 | King's Crossing (TV Series) | Willa Bristol | Strangers (1982) ... Willa Bristol |
1982 | King's Crossing (TV Series) | Willa Bristol | One Afternoon (1982) ... Willa Bristol |
1982 | King's Crossing (TV Series) | Willa Bristol | Family Reunion (1982) ... Willa Bristol |
1982 | King's Crossing (TV Series) | Willa Bristol | The Home Front (1982) ... Willa Bristol |
1982 | King's Crossing (TV Series) | Willa Bristol | Confusion by Cupid (1982) ... Willa Bristol |
1981 | Whose Life Is It Anyway? | 2nd Nurse | |
1981 | Flamingo Road (TV Series) | Trapped (1981) | |
1979 | Diff'rent Strokes (TV Series) | Mrs. Keith | The Dog Story (1979) ... Mrs. Keith |
1979 | Roller Boogie | Ada | |
1979 | Lou Grant (TV Series) | Lady | Gambling (1979) ... Lady |
1979 | H.O.T.S. | Ezzetta | |
1979 | How the West Was Won (TV Series) | Hattie | The Scavengers (1979) ... Hattie |
1978 | The Jeffersons (TV Series) | Cassie Kincaid | Florence's Union (1978) ... Cassie Kincaid |
1977 | Starsky and Hutch (TV Series) | Mrs. Walters | Manchild on the Streets (1977) ... Mrs. Walters |
1977 | Starsky and Hutch (TV Series) | Mrs. Marlowe | Starsky and Hutch Are Guilty (1977) ... Mrs. Marlowe |
1977 | Sanford Arms (TV Series) | Sarah Calvin | The Grandparents (1977) ... Sarah Calvin |
1977 | Rafferty (TV Series) | Mrs. Greener | A Point of View (1977) ... Mrs. Greener |
1977 | Panic in Echo Park (TV Movie) | ||
1977 | The Greatest | Odessa Clay | |
1976 | Having Babies (TV Movie) | Admitting Nurse | |
1976 | Helter Skelter (TV Movie) | Housekeeper | |
1976 | Grady (TV Series) | Ernestine Johnson | Night School (1976) |
1973-1975 | Sanford and Son (TV Series) | Mrs. Walker | Sanford and Rising Son (1975) ... Mrs. Walker |
1973-1975 | Sanford and Son (TV Series) | Aunt Flossie | Aunt Esther and Uncle Woodrow Pfftt... (1974) ... Aunt Flossie |
1973-1975 | Sanford and Son (TV Series) | Aunt Flossie | The Engagement (1973) ... Aunt Flossie |
1975 | The Rookies (TV Series) | Nadine Brooks | Reign of Terror (1975) ... Nadine Brooks |
1975 | The Blue Knight (TV Series) | Shopper | Pilot (1975) ... Shopper |
1975 | Miles to Go Before I Sleep (TV Movie) | Hattie | |
1975 | Insight (TV Series) | Nora | Hunger Knows My Name (1975) ... Nora |
1974 | That's My Mama (TV Series) | Ruby Lester | Mama Gets Fractured (1974) |
1974 | That's My Mama (TV Series) | Ruby Lester | Oscar's Affair (1974) |
1974 | That's My Mama (TV Series) | Ruby Lester | Mama Steps Out (1974) |
1974 | Airport 1975 | Passenger (uncredited) | |
1974 | The Family Kovack (TV Movie) | Nurse | |
1974 | Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law (TV Series) | Mrs. Green | I've Promised You a Father: Part 2 (1974) |
1973 | A Dream for Christmas (TV Movie) | Cousin Clara (uncredited) | |
1973 | The Waltons (TV Series) | Mrs. Blankfort | The Chicken Thief (1973) |
1972 | Circle of Fear (TV Series) | Woman | Time of Terror (1972) |
1972 | The New Temperatures Rising Show (TV Series) | Admissions Clerk | The Spy (1972) |
1971 | The Bill Cosby Show (TV Series) | Gloria's Mother | The Green-Eyed Monster (1971) |
References
External links
- 1924 births
- 1987 deaths
- American Presbyterians
- California Democrats
- Actresses from Indiana
- Indiana Democrats
- American film actresses
- American television actresses
- Female models from Indiana
- American memoirists
- 20th-century American actresses
- Activists for African-American civil rights
- African-American actresses