Nydia Westman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nydia Eileen Westman (February 19, 1902 – May 23, 1970) was an American actress and singer of stage, screen and television.

Westman's parents, Theodore and Lily (Wren) Westman were active in vaudeville in her native New York City. In addition to their working together on stage, her mother was a writer and her father was a composer. She attended the Professional Children's School.

Her sisters, Lolita and Neville were actresses, and her brother, Theodore (d. November 20, 1927), was an actor and playwright.

Westman's career ranged from episodic appearances on TV series such as That Girl and Dragnet and uncredited bit roles in movies to appearances in groundbreaking films (such as Craig's Wife, which starred Rosalind Russell, and the first film version of Little Women.

Westman's screen debut came in Strange Justice (1922). She appeared in 31 films in the 1930s.

She appeared as the housekeeper Mrs. Featherstone in the 1962–1963 ABC series, Going My Way, which starred Gene Kelly and Leo G. Carroll as Roman Catholic priests in New York City.

Westman's first Broadway play was Pigs (1924); her last was Midgie Purvis (1961).

She broke ground on stage, debuting the role of Nell off-Broadway in Samuel Beckett's Endgame, for which she won one of the first Obie awards.

Westman was married to Robert Sparks, a producer, from 1930 until 1937; they had a daughter, actress Kate Williamson, born on September 19, 1931.

Westman died of cancer at the age of sixty-eight in Burbank, California.

Family Affair

Perry Mason

Ivy Stanton

Bewitched

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour

Aunt Ida Maye

Ben Casey

Studio One

Miss Twink

Adam-12

Alice Hoyt

Robert Montgomery Presents

The Philco Television Playhouse

The Munsters

The Donna Reed Show

F Troop

Route 66

Lancer

The Addams Family

Miss Morrison

That Girl

Lux Video Theatre

Mrs. Hammond

Going My Way

Mrs. Featherstone

The Roaring 20's

The Farmer's Daughter

Strange Justice

Gwen

The Second Hundred Years

Maud

Little Women

Mamie

Cradle Song

Sister Sagrario

A Feather in Her Hat

Emily Judson

The Chase

Mrs. Henderson

The Remarkable Andrew

Miss Van Buren

The Cat and the Canary

Cicily

Rabbit, Run

Mrs. Smith

Bondage

Irma

From Hell to Heaven

Sue Wells

Three Live Ghosts

Peggy 'Peg' Woofers

The Way to Love

Annette

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken

Mrs. Cobb

The Invisible Ray

Briggs (uncredited)

Captain Hurricane

Gertie

For Love or Money

Milo's Wife

The Velvet Touch

Susan Crane

The Goldwyn Follies

Ada

Craig's Wife

Mazie

The Reluctant Astronaut

Aunt Zana

Bulldog Drummond's Peril

Gwen Longworth

The Swinger

Aunt Cora

Success at Any Price

Dinah McCabe

The First Hundred Years

Midge

Bloomer Girl

Serena Applegate

The Gorgeous Hussy

Maybelle

One Night of Love

Muriel

Princess O'Rourke

Mrs. Bowers (uncredited)

Two Alone

Corie

Hullabaloo

Lulu Perkins

Forty Little Mothers

Madamoiselle Cynthia Cliche

Silent Night, Lonely Night

Mae

Hers to Hold

Nurse Willing

When Tomorrow Comes

Lulu

Don't Knock the Twist

Amy

The Ford Theatre Hour: Alice in Wonderland

White Queen

Pennies from Heaven

Slavey - Hotel Maid

When Love Is Young

'Dotty' Leonard

They All Kissed the Bride

Lewis, M.J.'s Secretary

The Bad Man

Angela Hardy

Sweet Adeline

Nellie

King of the Jungle

Sue

Ladies Should Listen

Susie Flamberg

Her Primitive Man

Aunt Penolope

Rose Bowl

Susie Reynolds

The Late George Apley

Jane Willing

Bulldog Drummond's Revenge