'The Graduate' Star Elizabeth Wilson Dies at 94
Elizabeth Wilson, a Tony winner and character actress who had memorable supporting roles in films such as The Graduate and 9 to 5, has died. She was 94.
Wilson died Saturday in New Haven, Conn., her friend Elizabeth Morton confirmed to The New York Times.
During her nearly seven-decade career, Wilson won a Tony in 1972 for David Rabe’s anti-war drama Sticks and Bones. She also was nominated for an Emmy for her role in NBC’s 1987 miniseries Nutcracker: Money, Madness and Murder.
She made her Broadway debut in Picnic in 1953, returning in numerous productions over the next five decades, including The Good Woman of Setzuan, Threepenny Opera, The Importance of Being Earnest, Morning’s at Seven, You Can’t Take It With You, Ah, Wildnerness! and the acclaimed 1996 revival of Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance.
One of her most memorable film roles was the mother of Dustin Hoffman’s character, Benjamin Braddock, in Mike Nichols’ 1967 film The Graduate. She went on to reunite with Nichols on Catch-22 (1970), The Day of the Dolphin (1973) and Regarding Henry (1991).
Related: Mike Nichols, Director of ‘The Graduate,’ Dies at 83
Other screen roles included that of Roz, the nemesis of 9 to 5’s protagonists played by Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton and Lily Tomlin. She also played Ralph Fiennes’ mother in Quiz Show (1994) and the mother of an Uncle Festor impostor (Christopher Lloyd) in 1991’s The Addams Family. Her final film role was in 2012’s Hyde Park on Hudson as Mrs. Roosevelt.
