Photo Source: Zimbio
It is with great sadness that we share that Oscar and Emmy winner Cloris Leachman has passed away at the age of 94. The comedy icon’s career spans eight decades with numerous projects for Disney and 20th Century Studios. The impact of Leachman’s extraordinary work will be felt for decades to come.
As a talented and outgoing youngster in Des Moines, Iowa, Cloris started out in local theater and radio, which led to a scholarship at Northwestern University, a path she abandoned to participate in the 1946 Miss America pageant. That led her to New York City where she landed her first movie role in Carnegie Hall. While in New York, she also made her mark in plays and musicals on Broadway, including the lead of Nellie Forbush in South Pacific, one of Mary Martin’s replacements in the original production. At the same time she was making her mark in film and theater, Cloris Leachman was active in the early days of TV with parts on hits like Lassie, Dragnet and the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
Despite working hard in all three mediums in the 1960’s, stardom wouldn’t come until she landed the role of Phyllis on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1970. The character was so popular that she even got her own two-season spin-off series called Phyllis. Now a household name. Leachman was soon heavily sought after in Hollywood, including by Walt Disney Pictures where she was cast in lead roles in comedies like The North Avenue Irregulars, Charley and the Angel and Herbie Goes Bananas. She guest starred in The Muppet Movie and became a frequent star of Mel Brooks comedies at 20th Century Fox including Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety and History of the World: Part 1.
Proving herself more than just a comedic actress, Cloris Leachmen won her Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1971’s The Last Picture Show. She won two Emmys for her work on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and a Golden Globe for her spin-off Phyllis. In the early 2000’s, she won an additional two Emmys for the 20th Television series Malcolm in the Middle. Her most recent Emmy nomination was in 2011 on another 20th Television production, Raising Hope. Over the course of her career, she earned a total of eight Emmy awards.
In 2008, Cloris Leachman became the oldest contestant on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars at the age of 82. Starting in the 2000’s, she also began doing voice work including Disney’s English language dub of two Studio Ghibli films, Castle in the Sky and Ponyo, an episode of The Simpsons, and recurring roles on Phineas and Ferb and Elena of Avalor. Other Disney and 20th Century work includes The Beverly Hillbillies (1993), Sky High (2005) and You Again (2010).
Cloris Leachman is survived by four children and fans can learn more about her life through her 2009 autobiography, Cloris. Our hearts go out to her family, friends and fans during this difficult time.