# Nanette Fabray RIP **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 24, 2018, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanette-fabray-rip/809443 "2018-02-24T00:20:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanette-fabray-rip/809443/1 "2018-02-24T00:20:16Z")
Dead at 97. She was everywhere on TV when I was growing up and later, but I remember her best as Lily Marton in The Band Wagon. She and Oscar Levant nearly stole the show from Fred and Cyd. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanette-fabray-rip/809443/2 "2018-02-24T00:49:50Z")
Well, she got her widdle gun and shot the other two, had over thirty years of being the only one. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanette-fabray-rip/809443/3 "2018-02-24T01:25:28Z")
For many years, she was a prominent activist in the Deaf community, because she had a significant hearing loss. RIP. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanette-fabray-rip/809443/4 "2018-02-24T01:30:11Z")
I remember her as “Dot,” Mary’s mother on _ **MTM** _. Mary’s father, “Dr Walter Richards” was played by Bill Quinn, McCoy’s father in _ **Star Trek V** _. Nanette was also the mermaid in “Guess What’s Coming to Dinner?” on _ **The Carol Burnett Show** _. RIP. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanette-fabray-rip/809443/5 "2018-02-24T01:33:32Z")
She was also featured often on Sid Ceasar’s _Your Show of Shows_. Funny lady. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanette-fabray-rip/809443/6 "2018-02-24T01:39:41Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > For many years, she was a prominent activist in the Deaf community, because she had a significant hearing loss. > > RIP. I remember her primarily as the grandmother on “One Day at a Time”, and her character was pretty absent minded. When I found out she had hearing issues, a lot of her comedy persona made a lot more sense. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanette-fabray-rip/809443/7 "2018-02-24T01:59:47Z")
I remember her playing the mother of her real-life niece, Shelly Fabares, on “Coach”. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanette-fabray-rip/809443/8 "2018-02-24T04:01:54Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > She was also featured often on Sid Ceasar’s _Your Show of Shows_. > > Funny lady. Gotta be nitpicky. It’s tradition. She was on Caesar’s Hour which came after Your Show of Shows. Fabray replaced Imogene Cocoa who got her own show. The format for Caesar’s Hour was a little different with longer sketches. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanette-fabray-rip/809443/9 "2018-02-24T04:06:49Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I remember her playing the mother of her real-life niece, Shelly Fabares, on “Coach”. I just watched that one last week. I remember she was also a frequent panelist on the old _Hollywood Squares_ show, hosted by Peter Marshall. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanette-fabray-rip/809443/10 "2018-02-24T04:22:50Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Gotta be nitpicky. It’s tradition. > > She was on Caesar’s Hour which came after Your Show of Shows. Fabray replaced Imogene Cocoa who got her own show. The format for Caesar’s Hour was a little different with longer sketches. Thank you, I only learned this today when reading her obit. I was around at the time but I guess I was too young to take it in; I don’t remember either of Sid Caesar’s shows. My earliest memories of her are from her frequent guest shots on TV in the 60s. I believe she was on either Mike Douglas or Merv Griffin (or both) a lot, as well as game shows. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanette-fabray-rip/809443/11 "2018-02-24T10:57:15Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, she got her widdle gun and shot the other two, had over thirty years of being the only one. This. RIP. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanette-fabray-rip/809443/12 "2018-02-24T11:11:55Z")
And let us not forget [this](https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-adk-adk_sbnt&hsimp=yhs-adk_sbnt&hspart=adk&p=nanette+fabry+sid+caesar+beethoven%27s+fifth#id=1&vid=2f463194639370eca77fe4cb326b3eb7&action=click) six minutes of genius. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanette-fabray-rip/809443/13 "2018-02-24T11:51:51Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Thank you, I only learned this today when reading her obit. > > I was around at the time but I guess I was too young to take it in; I don’t remember either of Sid Caesar’s shows. My earliest memories of her are from her frequent guest shots on TV in the 60s. I believe she was on either Mike Douglas or Merv Griffin (or both) a lot, as well as game shows. Before I was born so I of course missed it then. My father thought Caesar was a genius so whenever there was a special showing clips we watched. She was multi-talented performer. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanette-fabray-rip/809443/14 "2018-02-24T15:11:49Z")
For some reason, I was thinking about her the other day - I remember her game show appearances. 97 years is an excellent run. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanette-fabray-rip/809443/15 "2018-02-24T15:13:09Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Gotta be nitpicky. It’s tradition. > > She was on Caesar’s Hour which came after Your Show of Shows. Fabray replaced Imogene Cocoa who got her own show. The format for Caesar’s Hour was a little different with longer sketches. Well! I never! Nah, the only way I’ve seen either show is on retrospective videos, and they don’t differentiate between the two. Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanette-fabray-rip/809443/16 "2018-02-24T16:11:20Z")
When I hear her name, a song immediately pops into my head. I have no idea what it is, nor even if it’s real. It’s in the style of _There’s No Business Like Show Business_ or one of those songs, and the only thing I can ‘remember’ is one line ends with ‘Nanette _Fabraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!_’ Is it real? Or is it something my brain made up? I don’t know. In any case, I love her in ‘Triplets’. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanette-fabray-rip/809443/17 "2018-02-24T20:21:39Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And let us not forget [this](https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-adk-adk_sbnt&hsimp=yhs-adk_sbnt&hspart=adk&p=nanette+fabry+sid+caesar+beethoven%27s+fifth#id=1&vid=2f463194639370eca77fe4cb326b3eb7&action=click) six minutes of genius. Brilliant! And let me be the first to post… she was still alive!? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2018, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanette-fabray-rip/809443/18 "2018-02-25T04:42:50Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And let us not forget [this](https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-adk-adk_sbnt&hsimp=yhs-adk_sbnt&hspart=adk&p=nanette+fabry+sid+caesar+beethoven%27s+fifth#id=1&vid=2f463194639370eca77fe4cb326b3eb7&action=click) six minutes of genius. I have never seen that before. Brilliant! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2018, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanette-fabray-rip/809443/19 "2018-02-25T05:05:14Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I have never seen that before. Brilliant! Aside from “NO!” and “YES!” can anybody tell us what they’re saying? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2018, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanette-fabray-rip/809443/20 "2018-02-25T07:59:41Z")
I caught a bit about “Your mother!” “My mother?” “Your mother!!” “My mother??” “Your mother!!!” “MY mother???” (just before the slaps) Great bit, btw. I vaguely remember her, probably from reruns of the Hollywood Squares. RIP. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nanette-fabray-rip/809443.md?page=2)