The actor received attention later in life in “Dancing with the Stars.”
Cloris Leachman, the multi-faceted Oscar-winning actress whose career on stage, television and film spanned more than seven decades, has passed away at the age of 94.
“I’ve had the privilege of working with Cloris Leachman, one of the most intrepid actresses of our time,” her longtime manager, Juliet Green, said in a statement. “There was no one like Cloris. With a single glance she could break your heart or make you laugh until tears ran down your cheeks. You never knew what Cloris was going to say or do and that unpredictable quality was part of her unparalleled magic. . “
“She loved her children and grandchildren very much. She was a lifelong vegetarian and a passionate animal rights advocate,” Green added. “The family demands that all donations be made on its behalf to PETA or Last Chance for Animals.”
Green said Leachman died of natural causes in Encinitas, California.
Equally adept at comedy and drama, Leachman was perhaps best known for her TV roles on ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ and its spin-off ‘Phyllis’, as well as ‘The Facts of Life’, ‘Malcolm in the Middle’ and ‘Awaken hope. She has won eight Emmy Awards – a tie with Julia Louis-Dreyfus. She also won a Daytime Emmy Award.
On the big screen, she won the Academy Award for her performance as a gym teacher’s neglected wife on the 1971 The Last Picture Show. 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 member of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” in 2008. Coupled with professional dancer Corky Ballas, she was 82 at the time. Her performance sparked a wave of new TV and film roles, including playing Maw Maw in the Fox sitcom “Raising Hope” from 2010 to 2014.
Leachman was born on April 30, 1926, the eldest of three sisters, in Des Moines, Iowa. She started acting as a child and later studied drama at Northwestern University in Illinois with friends Charlotte Rae and Paul Lynde.
After graduating from high school, Leachman enrolled at Illinois State University to study drama, and later 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 acting under director Elia Kazan at the Actors Studio and was immediately released on Broadway and in film.
From the 1950s onwards she appeared on many TV shows, including a brief stint as Timmy’s mother in the original ‘Lassie’. Her role as Mary Tyler Moore’s inquisitive and manipulative landlady, Phyllis Lindstrom, made her a star.
In addition to her busy acting career, Leachman has raised five children – four sons and a daughter – with film director George Englund. Leachman and Englund were married for 26 years before divorcing in 1979. Leachman never remarried and is survived by four of her children and several grandchildren.