1) Canadian jazz pianist, (Jun… Read Full Bio ↴At least two artists share this name:
1) Canadian jazz pianist, (June 9, 1957- )
2) American entertainer, (May 10, 1922 – March 25, 1992):
Born Anna Myrtle Swoyer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, in 1922 (although some sources have cited 1921), she held a life-long feeling of abandonment by her mother, who died while she was an infant. She and her sister, Betty Lou Barto, grew up in large cities where their father, who was a performer, entertained in vaudeville. Walker made her Broadway debut in 1941 in Best Foot Forward. The role provided Walker with her film debut when a movie version, starring Lucille Ball, was filmed in 1943. A subsequent appearance was in the MGM musical Broadway Rhythm, in which she had a featured musical number, "Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet." This song was written especially for her by Leonard Bernstein.
A diminutive four feet, ten inches (1.50 m) tall, Walker was difficult to cast; however, thanks to her dry comic delivery, she continued acting throughout the 1940s and 1950s and was nominated for a Tony Award in 1955. Dozens of television guest appearances and recurring roles followed, providing her with steady work. Her career spanned five decades, and included comedies, dramas and television variety shows such as The Garry Moore Show and The Carol Burnett Show. Walker co-starred with Phil Silvers in the 1960 musical, Do Re Mi.
She achieved her greatest success playing Ida Morgenstern, the mother of Valerie Harper's Rhoda Morgenstern, initially in a number of guest appearances on the Mary Tyler Moore and then as a regular in its spinoff, Rhoda. During much of the time she was co-starring in that hit situation comedy, she was also a regular on the successful Rock Hudson detective series McMillan and Wife, portraying Mildred the maid. These two roles brought her seven Emmy Award nominations. She also starred in two short-lived situation comedies, Blansky's Beauties and The Nancy Walker Show, both during the 1976-1977 season, giving her the rare distinction of being in two failed series within the same year. She returned to Rhoda (from which she'd departed a year earlier) at the beginning of the 1977-1978 season, remaining with the show for the rest of its run. During this time, Walker started to direct episodic television, including episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda and Alice.
One of Walker's last major film roles was as the deaf maid, Yetta, in the 1976 all-star comedy spoof Murder by Death. She continued to remain active in show business until her death, playing Rosie, a New Jersey diner waitress in a series of commercials for Bounty paper towels from 1970 to 1990. She helped make the product's slogan, "The Quicker Picker Upper", a common catchphrase. Among her final appearances in a television series was the recurring role of "Aunt Angela", Sophia Petrillo's widowed sister, on The Golden Girls for which she received an Emmy Award nomination.
In 1980, Walker made her feature film directorial debut, directing disco group The Village People and Olympian Bruce Jenner in the pseudo-autobiographical musical Can't Stop the Music. The film was a box office failure, although it later became something of a camp/cult favorite. This was the only theatrical film ever directed by Walker. Released too late to cash in on the disco craze that had swept the nation and savaged by reviewers, it still pops up on "worst movies" lists.
In the early 1980s, Walker directed for the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre in Florida, and acted in The Gin Game in a theatre in Denver.
Overture
Nancy Walker Lyrics
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The city of Vienna is experiencing the largest lightning storm in its long history.
Within a large disheveled room,
Ludwig Von Beethoven is slumped over his piano
And on the piano sits the just completed manuscript for his tenth symphony.
It is his final, and he is certain, his greatest work.]
Since the time when ra and isis
And apollo dreamed athena
And men began to understand
That when darkness folds on darkness
In the restless tides of night
And lightning raises shadows
And for moments gives them life
It's been said by those who ponder
That it surely is a sign
That a life touched by the stars
Is now running out of time
And that somewhere in that darkness
In the heart of that great storm
The world returns a soul
That the gods caused to be born
And this was such a storm
The kind one rarely sees in life
For in a room now filled with shadows
The great Beethoven was spending
His last night
[From the shadows a beautiful spirit, fate,
And her deformed dwarf son, twist,
Emerge to inform Beethoven of what he has already deeply suspected,
That this is to be his last night on earth.
They are accompanied by numerous spirits and ghosts from his past.]
The lyrics of Nancy Walker's "Overture" describe a particularly tumultuous night in the life of the legendary composer Ludwig von Beethoven. The setting is Vienna in 1827, where the people are experiencing the largest lightning storm in their history. Beethoven is toiling away in a large, disheveled room, where he is slumped over his piano, surrounded by a number of restless spirits from his past, including Fate and her deformed dwarf son, Twist. On the piano sits the manuscript for his tenth symphony, which he has just completed, and which he is convinced will be his greatest and final work. As the storm rages on outside, Beethoven must confront the possibility that his life is coming to an end.
The lyrics are rich in symbolism and allusion. They draw on ancient mythology, recent European history, and the romantic tradition to create a powerful, evocative narrative. The image of the lightning storm recalls the myths of Ra and Isis, as well as the dreams of Apollo and Athena. For Beethoven, the storm is a sign of his own mortality, a message from the gods that his time on earth is running out. Fate and Twist, along with the other spirits, serve as reminders of his own legacy, of the music he has created and the people he has touched. The song ends with the suggestion that Beethoven's soul is returning to the world, released from its mortal bounds by the thunder and lightning of the storm.
Line by Line Meaning
On a late night in the spring of 1827
The story is about a particular night that happened in the spring of 1827.
The city of Vienna is experiencing the largest lightning storm in its long history.
Vienna is currently facing an unprecedented thunderstorm.
Within a large disheveled room,
The scene is set inside a big room that is in a state of disarray.
Ludwig Von Beethoven is slumped over his piano
Beethoven is seated in front of his piano, but he is hunched over and appears to be distressed.
And on the piano sits the just completed manuscript for his tenth symphony.
On the piano, there is a newly finished manuscript for Beethoven's tenth symphony.
It is his final, and he is certain, his greatest work.
Beethoven believes that his tenth symphony is his masterpiece and also his last composition.
Since the time when ra and isis
Raised the sphinx out of the sand
And apollo dreamed athena
And men began to understand
Throughout history, the emergence of great things or ideas has been coupled with some sort of extraordinary occurrence.
That when darkness folds on darkness
In the restless tides of night
And lightning raises shadows
And for moments gives them life
When there is darkness, and lightning illuminates the shadows, the shadows seem to come alive.
It's been said by those who ponder
That it surely is a sign
That a life touched by the stars
Is now running out of time
Some people believe that when there is a significant occurrence during a dark and stormy night, it is an indication that someone's life is coming to an end.
And that somewhere in that darkness
In the heart of that great storm
The world returns a soul
That the gods caused to be born
In the midst of the storm, the world is said to be reclaiming the soul which had been gifted to a person by the gods at birth.
And this was such a storm
The kind one rarely sees in life
For in a room now filled with shadows
The great Beethoven was spending
His last night
The thunderstorm that night was so intense that it was unusual. Beethoven was in a room that was already shadowy, and this was to be his final night on earth.
From the shadows a beautiful spirit, fate,
And her deformed dwarf son, twist,
Emerge to inform Beethoven of what he has already deeply suspected,
That this is to be his last night on earth.
They are accompanied by numerous spirits and ghosts from his past.
Fate, a lovely spirit, and her son Twist, who has physical deformities, appear out of the shadows. They inform Beethoven of what he already knows, that he will die that night. They are with a group of spirits and ghosts whom Beethoven had known previously in his lifetime.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JIMMY HOROWITZ, ROBIN MILLER, LEO ROST
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind