Ann Morgan Guilbert is best remembered for playing neighbor Millie Helper on The Dick Van Dyke Show. She was very good on that show. Everyone was very good on that show, which may well be my favorite ever.
She passed away last Tuesday at the age of 87 and a lot of folks wrote me to note that I had not posted anything about her. No slight was intended. I just never met the lady and couldn't think of anything to write beyond the obvious.
Someone who did know her very well did post about her on the 'net, however. Dick Van Dyke chose a sketch from his first TV special, which was in 1966, and had our friend Stu Shostak post it online. Dick then wrote the following about her…
The world is full of comedians, but there has always been a scarcity of what they used to call "straight men." Those second bananas with talent, timing and experience to make it work, without them we're nothing. For five years, I watched Ann Morgan Guilbert be the backbone of scenes that literally wouldn't have worked without her.
I played "The World's Oldest Magician" with Annie as my doddering assistant in a special. The sketch was supposed to be eight minutes long, it lasted for fourteen!! Unexpected things happened and she went right with me at every turn. She never stopped honing her skills and could break your heart in a dramatic role. She was also sweet and kind. I was thankful I was one who was lucky enough to know her.