Nella Walker

Silver-haired, aristocratic American actress Nella Walker was a salesgirl in her native Chicago before touring in vaudeville with her husband, entertainer Wilbur Mack. After her talking-picture debut in Vagabond Lover (1929), Ms. Walker joined the ranks of the "lorgnette and old lace" character actresses. Nearly always a society matron in her film appearances, Nella was virtually unsurpassed in her ability to summon up disdain for all those born "beneath" her, and to haughtily enunciate such lines as "The very idea!" and "My dear, it just isn't being done." By providing so easily deflatable a target, Ms. Walker was an ideal foil for such low comedians as Laurel and Hardy (Air Raid Wardens [1943]) and Abbott and Costello (In Society [1944]). Nella Walker remained a member in good standing of moviedom's "upper crust" until her final appearance in Billy Wilder's Sabrina (1954), in which she played the mother of both Humphrey Bogart and William Holden.

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide