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Vale: Cloris Leachman

Veteran US performer, best known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Facts of Life & Mel Brooks comedies, has died.

Veteran US performer Cloris Leachman, best known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Facts of Life and Mel Brooks comedies, has died, aged 94.

She died in California of natural causes on Tuesday.

Her longtime manager Juliet Green said, “It’s been my privilege to work with Cloris Leachman, one of the most fearless actresses of our time. There was no one like Cloris. With a single look she had the ability to break your heart or make you laugh ’till the tears ran down your face. You never knew what Cloris was going to say or do and that unpredictable quality was part of her unparalleled magic.”

She played landlady Phyllis Lindstrom on The Mary Tyler Moore Show from 1970 – 75, landing her a spin-off series Phyllis, and two Emmy Awards -she ties with Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the most awarded actress in Emmy history (8).

A versatile star she was skilled in both comedy and drama, with roles -many including telemovies- in A Brand New Life, The Migrants, Ladies of the Corridor, Backstairs at the White House, In Broad Daylight, Little Piece of Heaven, Fine Things, Deadly Intentions, The Oldest Living Graduate, Advice to the Lovelorn, Miss All American Beauty, Dixie, Mrs. R’s Daughter, Fade to Black, Between Love and Honor, Miracle Child, Double Double Toil and Trouble, Lassie, Gunsmoke, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Facts of Life, Malcolm in the Middle, The Ellen Show, The Simpsons, Touched by an Angel, Diagnosis Murder, Joan of Arcadia, Two and a Half Men, The Office, Phineas and Ferb, Hawthorne, and Raising Hope.

Film credits were many including The Last Picture Show, Texasville Daisy Miller, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety, The History of the World Part I, Walk Like a Man, The Beverly Hillbillies, Bad Santa, Beavis and Butthead, Spanglish, The Longest Yard, Scary Movie 4, Beerfest, The Women, New York I Love You, The Fields, Gambit, The Home The Story of Bonnie and Clyde and Timberwolf.

Leachman was also a noted Broadway star, there were numerous TV Variety appearances and she was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2011.

Source: Variety

18 Responses

  1. Such a talent and still had it, was great as Sorya in American God’s plus was really the only good thing in the rather forgettable 2019 Mad About You reboot, just shone even if by voice like in Bob’s Burgers as Meryl.

  2. A childhood favourite of mine. A great actor. So spirited and memorable. What a long and distinguished career. 8 Emmys and an Oscar. Cloris Leachman left her mark.

  3. What sad news.Chloris Leachman was insanely talented as Mel Brooks said.So many great roles on television and on screen.She won no less than eight emmys and an Oscar as well.Quite an achievement,But she will always remain Phyllis from the Mary Tyler Moore show for me.What a performer.Rest in Peace,Chloris Leachman.

      1. Of course I meant good there but kind of fitting at the same time.

        Thinking about Cloris again and really since she started out in 1947, there is likely something for every generation up until now (with 2 movies coming as well) to remember her in, not many have that.

  4. Oh that’s sad news, RIP. What i know her from most is a movie I loved as a kid. She played the witch in Hansel & Gretel (1987). I loved getting it from the video shop. If anyone knows the film and wants a nostalgia hit search ‘Cannon Movie Tales Hansel & Gretel 1987’ on YouTube.

  5. And still working until the very end!

    I most recently saw her in the Wonder Woman pilot telemovie where she played the original Queen Hippolyta (later replaced by the also excellent and beautiful Carolyn Jones R.I.P.).

    I’m surprised that I haven’t seen her on screen more often over the years, but she has always left an impression.

    “Filthy! But genuinely arousing!”

    R.I.P.

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