Ann Morgan Guilbert’s Hidden Dick Van Dyke Show Pregnancy Led to the Birth of an Iconic Early Aughts TV Mom

Both of the actress’ daughters ventured into entertainment, following in her footsteps

Ann Morgan Guilbert made a splash during her time in entertainment.

Audiences first met the actress as Millie Helper in The Dick Van Dyke Show. She made an impression opposite Mary Tyler Moore’s Laura Petrie, but getting the role happened by chance. Guilbert told The Los Angeles Times about a friend encouraging her to audition.

“Jerry Paris (who played Millie’s dentist husband Jerry) had been a friend of mine for years, so he sort of dragged me down to read for it. I think they thought that I was not going to be pretty enough and too broad because I had done revues for so long. Luckily, I got the job,” she told the outlet.

Season one quickly presented a challenge when Guilbert found out she was pregnant early on in filming.

“I got pregnant, I think, after four or five episodes. So I told Carl Reiner about it and he thought about it and said, ‘Let’s just go with it and see what happens,’ ” she realled.

“I don’t think it was ever mentioned in the script. I worked up until my eighth month.”

On Jan. 7, 1962, Guilbert and husband George Eckstein welcomed their second daughter, Hallie Jane Eckstein, who joined 7-year-old Nora.

 

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After The Dick Van Dyke Show, Guilbert took on smaller roles, splitting TV gigs with parts in regional theater productions. Both her children would follow in her entertainment footsteps in different capacities.

Hallie Jane became known to audiences as Hallie Todd. She had roles in shows including Brothers (1984), Murder She Wrote (1990-1991), Going Places (1990-1991) and Life with Roger (1996 to 1997) before becoming beloved by Disney Channel-loving millennials as Lizzie McGuire’s mom, Joanne McGuire, from 2001 to 2004.

Nora opted for behind-the-scenes work, finding her passion in writing and working as an acting coach.

 

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Guilbert continued acting as her daughters each enjoyed their own careers. Audiences fell in love with her for a second time as Grandma Yetta Rosenberg in The Nanny, appearing in over 50 episodes from 1993 to 1999. She went on to enjoy bit roles in shows throughout the 2000s, closing out her acting career as Birdy Lamb in Getting On (2013 to 2015) and Gigi in Life in Pieces (2016).

The actress died at the age of 87 on June 14, 2016. Guilbert reportedly lost her life to cancer, with Todd sharing that Guilbert’s “illness was very brief.”

“She was never in any pain (at one point she took a Tylenol), and she was lucid all the way. Our gratitude is miles deep and holds us strong. Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she shared with fans.