Posted on 01/27/2021 2:07:43 PM PST by EdnaMode
Oscar winner and multiple Emmy winner Cloris Leachman, best remembered as the delightfully neurotic Phyllis Lindstrom on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and her own subsequent sitcom, died of natural causes on Tuesday in Encinitas, Calif. She was 94.
“It’s been my privilege to work with Cloris Leachman, one of the most fearless actresses of our time,” her longtime manager Juliet Green said. “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.”
The daffy, self-absorbed Phyllis, a character she claimed was close to her own persona, brought the actress two Emmys as a featured actress in a series during the mid-’70s and made Leachman a household name.
Leachman also won a supporting actress Oscar in the early part of the decade for a far different character, an embittered small-town housewife in Peter Bogdanovich’s elegiac “The Last Picture Show”; she would later reprise the role in the film’s less successful sequel “Texasville.” Both films were based on the writings of Larry McMurtry.
Overnight success for the actress, however, came only after two decades of hard work in theater, television and some films. Leachman was in her 40s when stardom finally hit.
(Excerpt) Read more at variety.com ...
She is not a Boomer, as she was born in 1927 or so.
She was in Season 1, Episode 2 of Adam-12 as Judy, an irresponsible mother of two boys who overdosed on her drugs when she left them alone.
I never would have guessed it was her. RIP.
She told a joke about being 8 months pregnant, and coming home to her husband sitting, and having drinks with one of her friends, well former friends, Joan Collins. It was a meandering soliloqy, and funny as heck. Find it and you will find out where her comedy came from, her own life. I met her at a film festival once also, she was kind and generous with her time.
She wasn’t a Boomer, she would have been born in 1927. If she were a male she may have been sent to fight against the Japanese.
RIP, Loved hoer in Malcolm in the Middle, Scary Movie and so much more. She was definately one of the memorable “Greats”
Cloris Leachman only did the first season. She was replaced by June Lockhart in season two.
She did part of the season that aired in 1957 - 1958. Ratings suffered and she was hard to get along with (perhaps because she didn’t want to do this role) and she was let go. June Lockhart replaced her until 1964.
Enjoyed her work. RIP.
Put the candle back.
I did not know that. Thank you.
She was very good looking when she was young, and she aged quite well, IMO.
Thanks. I did not know that. June Lockhart is iconic in that role. It was a good switch.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.