Actress. She is best remembered for her portrayal of the strait-laced Cousin Tilly, the telephone operator for the Bailey Building & Loan Association, in the holiday classic "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946). Born Mary Summers, the only daughter of the distinguished attorney Don Summers and stage actress Helene Sullivan. After beginning her career in stock companies, she was introduced to director Alan Crosland while attending a social function at the prestigious Cocoanut Grove nightclub. Impressed by her dark good looks, dry sense of humor, and professionalism, he took notice of her potential and arranged for her to begin a career in the film industry beginning with her appearing under his supervision per a supporting role in "Viennese Nights" (1930). From there, she would go on to flourish as one of the most recognizable, and reliable, character actresses of her generation appearing in over 220 features; often typecast as wives, mothers, grandmothers, old maids, busybodies, wallflowers, white-collared workers, secretaries, torch singers, waitresses, faithful friends, career girls, confidantes, housekeepers, nurses, white-collared workers, schoolteachers, governesses, landladies, curmudgeons, neighbors, manicurists, businesswomen, comical sidekicks, retail clerks, reporters, no-nonsense authority figures, eccentrics, and matriarchs. She appeared in such feature films as "Crooner" (1932), "Blue of the Night" (1933), "Babbit" (1934), "A Night at the Ritz" (1935), "Brides Are Like That" (1936), "Maid of Salem" (1937), "Swing It, Sailor!" (1938), "First Love" (1939), "Kitty Foyle" (1940), "The Flame of New Orleans" (1941), "They All Kissed the Bride" (1942), "So Proudly We Hail!" (1943), "Casanova Brown" (1944), "Blonde from Brooklyn" (1945), "From This Day Forward" (1946), "Merton of the Movies" (1947), "The Snake Pit" (1948), "And Baby Makes Three" (1949), "Young Daniel Boone" (1950), "The Stooge" (1951), "Room for One More" (1952), "Let's Do It Again" (1953), "Clipped Wings" (1954), "The Eternal Sea" (1955), "Bundle of Joy" (1956), "Gun Duel in Durango" (1957), "I Married a Monster from Outer Space" (1958), "Career" (1959), "Ada" (1961), "Girls! Girls! Girls!" (1962), "Who's Minding the Store?" (1963), "Paradise, Hawaiian Style" (1966), "The Strongest Man in the World" (1975), and "Goodbye, Franklin High" (1978). On television, she became an even more familiar face appearing in numerous guest spots on such syndicated sitcoms as "The Life of Riley," "Your Jeweler's Showcase," "The Gene Autry Show," "I Married Joan," "Shower of Stars," "It's a Great Life," "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show," "Four Star Playhouse," "Willy," "Stage 7," "Crossroads," "The Red Skelton Hour," "Climax!," "Hey, Jeannie!," "December Bride," "The Loretta Young Show," "Bourbon Street Beat," "Goodyear Theatre," "The Ann Sothern Show," "Dennis the Menace," "Wagon Train," "The Andy Griffith Show," "Surfside 6," "Bachelor Father," "The Magical World of Disney," "Pete and Gladys," "Ichabod and Me," "Bonanza," "The Jack Benny Program," "Perry Mason," "The Joey Bishop Show," "The Donna Reed Show," "Green Acres," "My Brother the Angel," "Please Don't Eat the Daisies," "Gomer Pyle: USMC," "The Brady Bunch," "Love, American Style," "The Rookies," "Here's Lucy," "Happy Days," "Laverne & Shirley," "The Love Boat," "The Dukes of Hazzard," and "The Fall Guy". During her career, she was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, was supportive of the Motion Picture and Television Fund, had been a regular parishioner of the Catholic church, was a member of the Hollywood Republican Committee, was a cousin to fellow character actor Mort Mills, presided as a chairwoman for her local charters of the American Red Cross and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, had been a theatrical instructor for the Pasadena Playhouse, was one of the founding members of the Canyon Theatre Guild, and she was married to wholesale liquor dealer Herbert C. Pearson from 1944 until his death in 1965 (their union produced no children). Upon her 1983 retirement, she spent the final years of her life being a regular attendee at autograph conventions and was involved in charitable causes until her death.