Cloris Leachman Has Died At 94
Mary Tyler Moore, Valerie Harper, and Georgia Engel just made room for another chair at their big 1970’s boardroom table in the sky, because TV legend and Mary Tyler Moore Show icon Cloris Leachman has joined them in the afterlife. Not to mention, she’s an Oscar-winner, multiple Emmy winner, star of TV and film, and all-around source of comedy. Variety has confirmed that Cloris died of natural causes on Tuesday at the age of 94.
Cloris died in Encinitas, California. Her longtime manager Juliet Green released the following statement:
“It’s been my privilege to work with Cloris Leachman, one of the most fearless actresses of our time. 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.”
Saying that there was no one like Cloris is a massive understatement. Every time you look at her career, there’s one more thing that pops out and makes you say: “She was in THAT?” or “She won HOW MANY Emmy Awards?“. And almost every generation has their version of Cloris that they know. Cloris was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1926. Her showbiz career started after placing in the Top 16 of the 1946 Miss America pageant, where she won a scholarship and decided to pursue acting classes in New York. Cloris landed some gigs on Broadway, and those turned into live TV appearances, and then various small parts in the late 1950s and early 1960s on shows like Rawhide and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Her most iconic one-off TV appearance might be her role as the mother of devil child Anthony Fremont in The Twilight Zone episode “It’s a Good Life.”
Cloris’ career started to take off in the 1970s when she was well into her 40s (truly a “Don’t ever give up on your dream” queen). She landed the role of Ruth Popper in 1971’s The Last Picture Show, which won her Best Supporting Actress at the 44th Academy Awards. Around that same time, Cloris started playing Mary’s uptight and snobby landlady Phyllis Lindstrom on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which she played for six seasons, then was given her own spin-off, Phyllis, which ran for 2 seasons. As I mentioned above, Cloris is now the 4th main female cast member from Mary to pass on.
During Cloris’ time on Mary, she was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards, for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy, winning twice. Cloris was nominated for a total of 22 Primetime Emmys and 1 Daytime Emmy. She had 8 Primetime Emmy Awards and 1 Daytime Emmy in her trophy case, the most recent of which was a win in 2006 for her absolutely perfect role as Grandma Ida on Malcolm in the Middle. Cloris Leachman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus are tied for holding the record for the most Emmy wins for an actress ever (both with 8).
And after Cloris retired Phyllis’ tight face-framing curls and pantsuits, she absolutely slayed TV cameos and guest spots and killed it with character work in various movies. Probably because she became the go-to for a certain kind of character. In the pantheon of elder lady actresses, if Betty White was the one you went to for a barely-subtle sexual double entendre, Cloris was the one you called if you straight-up wanted to hear something like “lube-covered butt plug.” She was absolutely weird or nasty in the sweetest, most comforting way. Her monologue from the Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget is legendary.
Here is #ClorisLeachman KILLING the room at the @bobsaget Roast! #Legend
— Peter Kelamis (@PeterKelamis) January 28, 2021
Cloris was also in Bad Santa, The Longest Yard, and Scary Movie 4. But that’s like 0.00000004% of her acting credits from the past 20 years alone. The woman kept busy. On film, Cloris appeared in three Mel Brooks movies: Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety, and History of the World: Part I.
Mel eulogized Cloris with the following tweet, name dropping her role in Young Frankenstein as Frau Blücher as if anyone could forget that:
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
Pic: Wenn.com