Broadway Legend And Honorary Member Of “Not The One” Club, Elaine Stritch, Has Died

Fuck that “dim the lights” shit. Break all the light bulbs on Broadway and shut the power all the way off, because Elaine Stritch has died!

The New York Times says that the legendary Broadway icon whose filter was permanently set to off and would always give hos several pieces of her mind died at her home in Birmingham, Michigan today. Elaine was 89. No other details were given.

Elaine moved back to the place where she grew up, Michigan, last year after living in Manhattan for most of her life. Elaine made her Broadway in 1946 and during her 60+ years on the stage, she was in Bus Stop (she got a Tony nom for that), Call Me Madam, Pal Joey, Show Boat and A Delicate Balance (she also got a Tony nom for that). Elaine Stritch was considered one of Stephen Sondheim’s muses and she created the role of Joanne in Company (which she also got a Tony nom for). Elaine’s one-woman show Elaine Stritch at Liberty won a Tony for Best Special Theatrical Event in 2002. Her last appearance on Broadway was in 2011 when she and Bernadette Peters starred together in A Little Night Music.

Non-theater queens  probably know Elaine Stritch best as Colleen Donaghy on 30 Rock. She got approximately 1 million Emmy nominations for 30 Rock and she won once. One of my favorite Elaine Stritch stories was the one she told in her one-woman show about the time she auditioned for Dorothy in the Golden Girls and totally blew her audition when she offended the writer by throwing the “fuck” word into the dialogue she was given. And speaking of Elaine spitting out the “fuck” word, when she was on the Today show earlier this year, the morning buzz nearly jumped out of Kathie Lee’s body when Elaine dropped the “fuck” word. One of the many reasons to love Elaine Stritch is that she loved the “fuck” word and loved throwing it around.

This one hurts, because I thought Elaine Stritch would live forever. Here’s to that crusty, old broad! I’ll drink to that!

Rest in peace, Elaine Stritch. Hopefully her family buries her in her favorite fur hat and hopefully they also bury her with a grenade for the grave robbers.