Sitcom star and Oscar winner Cloris Leachman dies aged 94
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The award-winning comedy and drama actress Cloris Leachman has died at the age of 94.
Leachman won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of a depressed housewife in the 1971 drama The Last Picture Show, but was best known as the self-absorbed, snooty neighbour Phyllis Lindstrom on the Seventies sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Her character proved so popular with viewers that she was given her own spin-off show, Phyllis.
Leachman is one of the two most-awarded performers (tied with Julia Louis-Dreyfus) in Emmy history, with eight wins out of 22 nominations.
She was also known for the playing the mother of Timmy on the Lassie series, a frontier prostitute in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, a crime spree family member in Crazy Mama, and the infamous Frau Blücher in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein.
She died at home in California. “She had the best life beginning to end that you could wish for someone,” her son told TMZ. “She left everyone with a lot of love.”
Such sad news—Cloris was insanely talented. She could make you laugh or cry at the drop of a hat. Always such a pleasure to have on set. Every time I hear a horse whinny I will forever think of Cloris’ unforgettable Frau Blücher. She is irreplaceable, and will be greatly missed.
— Mel Brooks (@MelBrooks) January 27, 2021
Hollywood stars have been paying tribute to Leachman. Mel Brooks wrote: “Every time I hear a horse whinny I will forever think of Cloris’ unforgettable Frau Blücher. She is irreplaceable,” Mel Brooks said.
“Salute to Cloris Leachman, who brought comedy’s mysteries to the big and small screen” wrote comedian Steve Martin.
Even the Muppets have had their say: “As a guest star on The Muppet Show, Cloris Leachman kept the show going despite an invasion of pigs and in The Muppet Movie she opened the door to our standard rich and famous contract. A legend and a great friend. Cloris, we will never forget you.”
As a guest star on The Muppet Show, Cloris Leachman kept the show going despite an invasion of pigs and in The Muppet Movie she opened the door to our standard rich and famous contract. A legend and a great friend. Cloris, we will never forget you.
— The Muppets (@TheMuppets) January 27, 2021
Born in Iowa in 1926, Leachman began appearing in plays and beauty pageants as a teenager. In 1946, she won a place on the Miss America pageant and moved to New York to study acting. Her early career included small parts in the Robert Aldrich film Kiss Me Deadly (1955) and the Paul Newman film The Rack (1956). However, she first achieved widespread acclaim in her 40s when she won the part of Phyllis.
In recent years, Leachman was a contestant on Dancing With the Stars - the oldest so far, at 81 - and made a cameo appearance on The Office.
