Actress. She is best known for her recurring portrayal of the kindly cat-loving Ida Greenberg on the television series "Desperate Housewives." The middle of five child born unto the prestigious Judge Thomas Crawford, she attended UCLA and after attaining her teaching degree she went on to enjoy a 30 year career at Carson City High School in Carson, California, as an English instructor. In 1984, she retired from academics to begin a second career as a professional character actress having been encouraged by both her daughter, colleagues, and former pupils alike, due in part to her constant praise of effective reading during her tenure in a classroom going over the literature of such esteemed authors ranging from William Shakespeare to Ernest Hemingway. In 1985, she made her debut in the made for TV film "Do You Remember Love" and from there she went on to appear in over 150 features. During the course of her career, she was often typecast as either a mother, grandmother, nurse, teacher, shop clerk, church lady, neighbor, maid, or secretary. Her film appearances include "The Rocketeer" (1991), "Sister Act" (1992), "Love is Like That" (1992), "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit" (1993), "Reality Bites" (1994), "Little Giants" (1994), "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion" (1997), "Jack Frost" (1998), "Playing Mona Lisa" (2000), "Stuck on You" (2003), "Suits on the Loose" (2005), "Uncross the Stars" (2008), "Dark Streets" (2008), and "Divorce Invitation" (2012). On television, she became a household name appearing in various guest spots on such sitcoms as "Sledge Hammer," "L.A. Law," "Highway to Heaven," "Who's The Boss?," "Elvira, Mistress of the Dark," "Moonlighting," "Mama's Family," "Coach," "Murder, She Wrote," "Knots Landing," "Designing Women," "Murphy Brown," "Matlock," "Amen," "Growing Up," "The Wonder Years," "Step by Step," "Dinosaurs," "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," "Sister, Sister," "Mad About You," "Married...With Children," "Home Improvement," "Ellen," "Beverly Hills, 90210," "ER," "Caroline in the City," "Night Man," "NYPD Blue," "Suddenly Susan," "The Drew Carey Show," "Judging Amy," "3rd Rock from the Sun," "Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction," "The Steve Harvey Show," "Gilmore Girls," "Monk," "Arrested Development," "Strong Medicine," "According to Jim," "General Hospital," "Days of our Lives," "The Ghost Whisperer," "How I Met Your Mom," "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," "Bones," and "Parks and Recreation." In 2012, at the age of 83, she officially retired from acting following her appearance in a television commercial for the restaurant chain CiCis Pizza and spent the remainder of her life spending time with her family and venturing between her homes in Woodland Hills, California and Manhattan, New York.