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Gretchen Wyler (February 16, 1932 - May 27, 2007), was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma as Gretchen Patricia Wienecke.
She was raised in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, where her father was an engineer. She opened her own dancing school there before heading east to New York to pursue a professional career as an actress and dancer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gretchen_Wyler
Acting career
She appeared on Broadway in the following original productions:
Sly Fox as "Miss Fancy"
Bye Bye Birdie as "Rose Grant" as replacement for Chita Rivera
Rumple as "Kate Drew"
Damn Yankees as "Lola" as replacement for Gwen Verdon
Silk Stockings as "Janice Dayton"
Guys and Dolls as a dancer and as understudy for "Miss Adelaide"
Gretchen Wyler surrounded by Humane Society supporters Kevin Norte and Don Norte at the 20th Annual Genesis Awards at the Beverly Hilton in March of 2006.Eventually she went west to Hollywood to pursue movie stardom, which eluded her, but she appeared on many television programs, from The Phil Silvers Show (aka Sergeant Bilko) to Naked City to Somerset, Charlie's Angels, Dallas, St. Elsewhere, Remington Steele, Falcon Crest, Santa Barbara, MacGyver, Who's the Boss, Designing Women, Friends, and Judging Amy; her last TV appearance was on Chicken Soup for the Soul.
She appeared in Rick McKay's 2004 award-winning feature documentary, ?Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There,? which is currently running on PBS, where she recounted her "aggressive" nature and an almost Eve Harrington-esque ambition when she recalled trying on the star (Yvonne Adair)'s outfits when she was merely second understudy in the pre-Broadway touring production of Silk Stockings. When Ms. Adair collapsed in the middle of a show one night, and the first understudy (Sherry O'Neil) had surreptitiously gone to New York to audition for another play (which Wyler knew), Wyler stepped in, and played the role when the show arrived on Broadway. Wyler has already filmed her appearance in McKay's eagerly awaited sequel, "Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age"(2008).
Animal Welfare work
In the mid-1960s Wyler began to work for animal welfare causes. She founded The Ark Trust, presenter of the annual Genesis Awards for animal protection. This event is now a program of The Humane Society of the United States. In 2007, the first Gretchen Wyler Award was given to Paul McCartney
Wyler died on May 27, 2007. She had been married, but had no children.
References
http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=65762
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0943738
http://www.hsus.org/about_us/offices_and_affiliates/hsus_hollywood_office/the_genesis_awards/21st-genesis-awards/the_21st_annual_genesis.html
http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2007/05/27/742536-actress-activist-gretchen-wyler-dies