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The actor gained attention later in life to “Dancing with the Stars”.
Cloris Leachman, the versatile Oscar-winning actress whose career on stage, television and film spanned more than seven decades, has died at the age of 94.
“I have had the privilege of working with Cloris Leachman, one of the most fearless actresses of our time,” her longtime manager Juliet Green said in a statement. “There was no one like Cloris. With one look, she had the ability to break your heart or make you laugh until tears rolled down your face. You never knew what Cloris was going to do. say or do and that unpredictable quality was part of his incomparable magic. “
“She fiercely loved her children and grandchildren. A longtime vegetarian, she was a passionate advocate for animal rights, ”added Green. “The family requests that any donation in their name be made to PETA or Last Chance for Animals.”
Green said Leachman died of natural causes in Encinitas, California.
Leachman, also a comedy and theater enthusiast, was perhaps best known for her television roles in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and her spin-off “Phyllis”, as well as “The Facts of Life”, “Malcolm in the Middle ”and“ Raising Hope. ”She won eight Emmy Awards – tied for most of all time with Julia Louis-Dreyfus. She also won a Daytime Emmy Award.
On the big screen, she won the Oscar for her role as a neglected wife of a gym teacher in “The Last Picture Show” from 1971. She also appeared in three Mel Brooks films, “Young Frankenstein,” ” High Anxiety “and” History of the World: Part I. ” And she played Daisy May Moses in the 1993 film version of “The Beverly Hillbillies.”
Leachman was introduced to a new generation of fans when she became the oldest participant on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” in 2008. Associated with professional dancer Corky Ballas, she was 82 at the time. His appearance led to a wave of new roles in television and film, most notably playing Maw Maw on the Fox sitcom “Raising Hope” from 2010 to 2014.
Leachman was born April 30, 1926, the oldest of three sisters, in Des Moines, Iowa. She started acting as a child and went on to study acting at Northwestern University in Illinois, alongside friends Charlotte Rae and Paul Lynde.
After graduating from high school, Leachman enrolled at Illinois State University to study theater, and then at Northwestern University, where she was a member of Gamma Phi Beta. After winning a scholarship in the Miss America pageant, she moved to New York City to study theater under Elia Kazan’s direction at the Actors Studio and was immediately cast on Broadway and in the movies.
Beginning in the 1950s, she appeared in numerous television programs, including a brief stint as Timmy’s mother in the original “Lassie.” Her role as the curious and manipulative owner of Mary Tyler Moore, Phyllis Lindstrom, made her a star.
In addition to her busy acting career, Leachman raised five children – four sons and a daughter – with director George Englund. Leachman and Englund married for 26 years, before divorcing in 1979. Leachman never remarried and is survived by four of her children as well as several grandchildren.
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