Diana Lewis; Actress in Marx Brothers Movies, Philanthropist

Diana Lewis, an ingenue who appeared in Marx Brothers and Andy Hardy movies, later married William Powell of “The Thin Man” fame and became a Palm Springs philanthropist, has died. She was 77.

Lewis, known to the desert movie colony as “Mousie” Powell, died Saturday in Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage of pancreatic cancer.

It was Powell, who died in 1984 at the age of 91, who dubbed the 5-foot-1 Lewis “Mousie” when he told her, “You look like a little mouse.”

Born to vaudeville performers in Asbury Park, N.J., Lewis attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles with a future co-star, Mickey Rooney. Still in her teens, she won contracts at Paramount and later MGM, where she met the famous Powell.

She made more than 20 films, including “The Marx Brothers Go West,” “Andy Hardy Meets a Debutante,” “It’s a Gift,” “He Couldn’t Say No,” “The People vs. Dr. Kildare,” “Johnny Eager” and “Cry Havoc.”

After she eloped to Las Vegas with Powell in 1940, she largely retired from acting. She did appear briefly in Sylvester Stallone’s “Rocky” in 1976.

In Palm Springs, she became a lively hostess for the desert community’s film colony and lived in the same house--which became the city’s first designated historical site in 1995--for 45 years.

She was a donor and community worker in several organizations, including the Desert Hospital Auxiliary, the Children’s Discovery Museum, the Living Desert Museum and the College of the Desert Foundation. She also was a benefactor of other health support groups and animal charities.

A sister, Maxine Lewis of Palm Springs, survives.