Beloved comedian and actress Cloris Leachman passes away at 94

Hollywood has lost another star this week. Cloris Leachman, the prolific actress whose career spanned multiple decades has passed away at the age of 94.

Born in 1926 in Des Moines, Iowa, the Oscar-winner displayed talent in roles that ranged from comedic roles to influential drama, and notable voiceover credits.

One of her earliest roles was as Ruth Martin, the foster mother of Timmy Martin in the 1950’s classic, Lassie, from 1957 through 1958.  From there, Leachman landed parts on The Untouchables, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and 77 Sunset Strip.  In 1970, the funny lady with the razor-sharp wit earned the role of Phillis Lindstrom on the Mary Tyler Moore show; there she played alongside Betty White for nearly four years.

In the 1980s, Leachman took over Charlotte Rae’s role as her sister Beverly Ann Stickle on The Facts of Life. Other notable roles during included angel on the CBS hit, Touched By An Angel; Grandma Ida Walker on Fox’s Malcolm In The Middle where she won an Emmy for her work; and as Maw Maw in Raising Hope.  In the later 2010s, Leachman portrayed an aging god in Starz drama American Gods alongside Ian McShane and had a recurring role in Mad About You.

For fun, Cloris participated as a contestant in the dance competition, Dancing With The Stars, and behaved rather brashly on camera.  Her antics included sitting on the judges’ laps and offering a little crude humor.  She was 82 at the time but filled with life as she took on the dance floor.

Along with her credits as a TV star, Leachman also had a movie role scorecard to match.   She won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in the 1971 coming of age film, The Last Picture Show.  Other memorable credits include Young Frankenstein, Prancer, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Spanglish.

Aside from her live-action talents, Leachman extended her voice to a variety of animation productions.  In 1991, she appeared on The Simpsons (Three Men and a Comic Book-season two, episode 21) as elderly Mrs. Glick.  Previously, she lent her voice as Queen Sirena in the underrated Hanna-Barbara 1987 Christmas special, The Little Troll Prince.

More recently, she can be heard on Bob’s Burgers, Disney’s Phineas and Ferb, and The Croods, a role for which she was nominated a Behind The Voice Actors Awards for best female vocal performance. She reprised her role of  “Gran” in The Croods:  A New Age, which was released in November 2020.

Offscreen, Cloris dedicated her philanthropy passions to animal advocacy (she was a strict vegetarian) and she was also a longtime supporter of LGBTQA+ rights. She was married to George Englund for 26 years prior to their divorce in 1979, and the pair shared five children.

Do you have a favorite Cloris Leachman role? Let us know in the comments.