Nanette Fabray, TV & Stage Comedy Actress, Dies At 97

PALOS VERDES, CA – Nanette Fabray, Tony- and Emmy-winning actress, died at 97 in her Palos Verdes home Thursday, her son told The New York Times. Fabray rose to fame on Broadway and became a regular face on television for decades, beginning in the 1950s. Funeral services were pending Friday.

Fabray, from San Diego, began her show business career at just 4 years old performing in vaudeville-type acts. She attended and studied acting during junior college in Los Angeles, and began appearing on Broadway in her 20s, starting with the Danny Kaye-Eve Arden production "Let's Face It."

She won a Tony Award for best actress for her work in the Alan Jay Lerner/Kurt Weill musical "Love Life."

Fabray began appearing on television in the 1950s, gaining fame for her work on Sid Caesar's "Caesar's Hour," which earned her a trio of Emmys. She briefly starred in her own sitcom, "The Nanette Fabray Show," in 1961, but she is likely better remembered for her guest spots on sitcoms through the 1990s. Among them were her roles as Mary Tyler Moore's mother on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and Bonnie Franklin's mother on "One Day at a Time."

She is survived by her son and two grandchildren. Her husband, Ranald MacDougall, died in 1973.

City News Service contributed to this post; Photo: LOS ANGELES - AUGUST 7: Actress Nanette Fabray attends the tribute 'Red Buttons: A Celebration of Life and Laughter' on August 7, 2006 at The Century Club in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images)`