A tall, lanky character actress, Wickes was a durable and invaluable comedy player of innumerable housekeepers, nurses and nuns. With her gawky frame, deliciously angular features and famous recessed chin, she wisecracked, busybodied and nosed her way through almost 20 Broadway plays, hundreds of stock productions, ten TV series, countless small-screen guest spots and nearly 50 feature films. Wickes began on stage in the early 1930s and acted in five plays either written or directed by George S. Kaufman. Her breakthrough came when she hilariously played Miss Preen, the endlessly harassed nurse
Made stage debut at the Berkshire Playhouse in Stockbridge, MA
1935
Appeared on Broadway in supporting role in the George S. Kaufman-Edna Ferber comedy-drama, "Stage Door" (date approximate)
Breakthrough role: played Miss Preen, the harassed nurse, in the popular stage comedy, "The Man Who Came to Dinner", by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart
1941
Made feature film debut recreating her acclaimed stage role as Nurse Preen in the comedy, "The Man Who Came to Dinner"
After acting in five films in 1943, concentrated primarily on stage work until 1948
