Anne Morgan Gilbert’s hidden ‘Dick Van Dyke Show’ pregnancy led to the iconic TV mom’s birth in early August

Anne Morgan Gilbert made headlines during her time in the entertainment industry.

Audiences first met the actress as Millie Helper on The Dick Van Dyke Show. She was memorable opposite Mary Tyler Moore’s Laura Petrie, but she won the role by chance. Gilbert told the Los Angeles Times that a friend encouraged her to audition.

“Jerry Paris[who played Millie’s dentist husband, Jerry]has been a friend of mine for years, so he dragged me into reading this book. I think because I had been reviewing it for so long, they thought I wasn’t pretty enough and that I was too broad. Luckily, I got the job,” she told the outlet.

Season 1 immediately presented challenges when Gilbert discovered she was pregnant early in filming.

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

“I don’t think it was ever mentioned in the script. I worked until I was eight months old.”

On January 7, 1962, Gilbert and her husband George Eckstein welcomed their second daughter, Harry Jane Eckstein and 7-year-old Nora.

After The Dick Van Dyke Show, Gilbert took on small roles, splitting his time between television appearances and regional theater productions. Both of her children ended up following in her entertainment footsteps in various capacities.

Harry Jane became known to viewers as Harry Todd. She appeared on Brothers (1984) before becoming beloved by Disney Channel-loving millennials as Lizzie McGuire’s mother, Joanne McGuire, from 2001 to 2004. ), Murder She Wrote (1990-1991), Going Places (1990-1991), and Life with Roger (1996-1997).

Nora chose behind-the-scenes work and found her passion as a writing and acting coach.

Gilbert continued acting while his daughters enjoyed their respective careers. Audiences fell in love with her all over again when she played Grandma Yetta Rosenberg on The Nanny, appearing in more than 50 episodes from 1993 to 1999. She continued to enjoy bit roles on shows throughout the 2000s, ending her acting career as Birdie Lamb in Getting On (2013-2015) and Gigi in Life in Pieces (2016).

The actress passed away on June 14, 2016 at the age of 87. Gilbert reportedly lost his life to cancer, and Todd said Gilbert’s “illness was very short.”

“She never felt any pain (even took Tylenol at one point) and was lucid the whole time. Our gratitude runs miles deep and keeps us strong. Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she shared with fans.