One of those fantastic character actors who, along with acting talent and genuine screen presence, had a unique and unforgettable face. Edna May Oliver was another, and Agnes Moorehead, and there are others too.

She certainly made a big impression in two wonderful movies which you have already mentioned, Now, Voyager and The Man who Came to Dinner.

I also recall enjoying her as the housekeeper in On Moonlight Bay.

And she kept acting right up until the end!

Yes, Miss Wickes really makes a professional impression anywhere that she films. Those noteworthy movies already nicely cited by the two of you really do benefit from Mary's performances.

Also, she does a number of guest roles on The Lucy Show, often as a member of Lucy's inner circle, and sometimes as a nurse or a secretary or something important to spotlight her talents to shine brightly on screen.

Still, when she plays in support, Mary really does support Miss Ball, matching her wits, fleshing out her characters, but not intentionally stealing the spotlight from the star.

This is especially notable in the Robert Goulet episode, in which Miss Wickes livens up the office as its "neurotic" administrative assistant, capable of carrying the show, but still supporting Lucy and Robert all the way.

I used to enjoy her on the Lucy series, though am not able to really remember (in my mind's eye) any of that or her other series work at this point, due to it being so long ago (decades) since I last saw any of it.

Miss Wickes certainly was on the small screen often (including in reruns of various old earlier-decades hit films she appeared in) during the '60s and '70s when I was growing up, then onward throughout the '80s and into the early '90s. She was one of those people who it was always a joy whenever she'd pop up on or in something.

Yes, and sometimes you hear reports about how difficult Lucy could become behind the scenes, but she was also producing her series and several others, including My Favorite Martian, Star Trek and Mission: Impossible, in addition to the demands of performing upon her weekly sitcoms.

Still, and I think that this is more like it, Mary and Lucy remained life-long friends and benefited from each other's acting support. Lucy also was said to remain close friends with quite a few of her other 1930's co-stars, such as Ann Sothern, Ginger Rogers, Harriet Nelson, and, of course, Vivian Vance, with whom she'd worked in television for a number of years.

But one thing which differs from Lucy and the rest would have to be that Lucy wouldn't admit to working on screen way back in the 1930's even though she played in a great number of films. Even in the 1960's and 1970's, she'd continue to play characters much younger than her age--which is understandable by Hollywood standards, but then there was the Golden Age to be very proud about.

Also, some of the recurring guests on the Lucy Show must have gotten along with its star very well, such as Mary Jane Croft, Gale Gordon, Kathleen Freeman, Sid Gould, Carol Cook... (Carol's still around, at 95 now!) and very often Miss Wickes.

Which brings us back to Mary and her wonderful acting and support and comic timing, and not stealing the show even though she very well could.