May  27, 2007

Gretchen Wyler (February 16, 1932 – May 27, 2007) was an American actress. Wyler was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma as Gretchen Patricia Wienecke, the daughter of Peggy (née Highley) and Louis Gustave Wienecke, who was a petroleum engineer.

She was raised in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. She opened her own dancing school there before heading east to New York City to pursue a professional career as an actress and dancer. She graduated from her home town high school and went on to study dance with June Runyon in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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.

In 1968 she founded a shelter for animals in upstate New York and was on the boards of several humane and wildlife organizations, also sponsoring animal welfare legislation. Divorced since 1968, she had no children but shared her home (of course) with several animals including dogs, cats and horses.

Wyler died on May 27, 2007, aged 75, from complications of breast cancer in Camarillo, California.