Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She receivedmany accolades including 22 Primetime Emmy nominations and won eight, tyingJulia Louis-Dreyfus for the most acting Emmy Awards ever awarded to a performer.[1] Leachman also won anAcademy Award, aBAFTA Award, and aGolden Globe Award. She was known for her versatility and distinctive physicality, where she usedprops to accentuate and express her roles'characterizations.
Leachman was born on April 30, 1926, in Des Moines, Iowa,[2] the eldest of three daughters. Her parents were Cloris (née Wallace) and Berkeley Claiborne "Buck" Leachman. Her father worked at the family-owned Leachman Lumber Company.[3][4] Her youngest sister,Claiborne Cary, was an actress and singer. Her other sister, Mary, was not in show business.[5] Their maternal grandmother was ofBohemian (Czech) descent.[6] Leachman attendedTheodore Roosevelt High School.[citation needed]
As a teenager, Leachman appeared in plays by local youth on weekends atDrake University in Des Moines.[7] After graduating from high school, she enrolled at Northwestern University in the School of Education.[8] At Northwestern, she became a member ofGamma Phi Beta and was a classmate of future comic actorsPaul Lynde andCharlotte Rae. She began appearing on television and in films shortly after competing inMiss America in 1946 as Miss Chicago.[9][10]
After winning a scholarship in the Miss America pageant, placing in the top 16, Leachman studied acting under Elia Kazan at the Actors Studio in New York City. She had been cast as a replacement for the role ofNellie Forbush during the original run ofRodgers and Hammerstein'sSouth Pacific. A few years later, she appeared in theBroadway-bound production ofWilliam Inge'sCome Back, Little Sheba, but left the show before it reached Broadway whenKatharine Hepburn asked her to co-star in a production ofWilliam Shakespeare'sAs You Like It.[11] Leachman was slated to play the role of Abigail Williams in the original Broadway cast ofArthur Miller's seminal dramaThe Crucible. The production played four preview performances at the Playhouse Theatre inWilmington, Delaware, from January 15–17, 1953, prior to opening on Broadway on January 22. However, Leachman left the production the day before opening night in Wilmington, withMadeleine Sherwood assuming the role. Leachman's name was heavily publicized prior to the production's opening, and her name still appeared in the printed program; a sign appeared at the box office in Wilmington noting the change.[12]
Leachman appeared in many live television broadcasts in the 1950s, including such programs asSuspense andStudio One.[13] She played oppositeJohn Forsythe inAlfred Hitchcock Presents Season 1, Episode 2 "Premonition", which aired 10/8/1955. She also briefly held the role of the mother of "Lassie's" second master Timmy (Jon Provost) until she was replaced late in her only season with the cast byJune Lockhart due to contract disputes. She made her feature-film debut as an extra inCarnegie Hall (1947), but her first real role was inRobert Aldrich'sfilm noirKiss Me Deadly,[14] released in 1955. Leachman was several months pregnant during the filming, and appears in one scene running down a darkened highway wearing only atrench coat. A year later, she appeared oppositePaul Newman andLee Marvin inThe Rack (1956). She appeared with Newman again in a brief role inButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).
Leachman with cast inLassie
She continued to work mainly in television, with appearances onRawhide and inThe Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life" (more than forty years later, Leachman would appear in this episode's sequel, "It's Still a Good Life", an entry in the2002–2003 UPN series revival). During this early period, Leachman geatured oppositeJohn Forsythe on the anthologyAlfred Hitchcock Presents in an episode titled "Premonition" (1955). In 1956 she guest starred as "Flory Tibbs", in a complex role as an abused captive on the TV WesternGunsmoke in S2E8's "Legal Revenge". She later appeared asRuth Martin, Timmy Martin's adoptive mother, in the last half of season four (1957) ofLassie.Jon Provost, who played Timmy, said, "Cloris did not feel particularly challenged by the role. Basically, when she realized that all she'd be doing was baking cookies, she wanted out."[15] She was replaced by June Lockhart in 1958.
That same year, she appeared in an episode ofOne Step Beyond titled "The Dark Room", withMarcel Dalio, in which she portrayed an American photographer living inParis. In 1960, she played Marilyn Parker, the roommate ofJanice Rule's character, Elena Nardos, in theCheckmate episode "The Mask of Vengeance". In 1961, she starred as Boni, a cold-hearted woman that would sell out her man for $500 in the TV WesternGunsmoke (S6E36 - "For The Love of Money). She appeared in The Twilight Zone S3 E8 "It's a Good Life" which aired 11/2/1961. Also in 1961, she appeared inThe Donna Reed Show (S4E4 - Mouse at Play) as Donna Stone's friend Iris. In 1962, she appeared in "The Nancy Davis Story" as a forlorn bar maid desperate for love onWagon Train (S5E33), plus she co-starred in "Trial by Fire", on an episode ofLaramie that same year, as well as the "Where Beauty Lies" episode ofAlfred Hitchcock Presents opposite George Nader. In 1966, she guest-starred onPerry Mason as Gloria Shine in "The Case of the Crafty Kidnapper". In late 1970, Leachman starred in one episode ofThat Girl as Don Hollinger's sister, Sandy.
In the drama filmThe Last Picture Show (1971),[16] based on the bestselling book byLarry McMurtry, Leachman played Ruth Popper, the high-school gym teacher's neglected wife, with whomTimothy Bottoms' character has an affair. The part was originally offered toEllen Burstyn, but Burstyn wanted another role in the film.[17] DirectorPeter Bogdanovich correctly predicted during production that Leachman would win anOscar for her performance; she won forBest Supporting Actress. CriticRoger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times wrote of her performance, "The only real warmth comes from the Leachman ...The film is above all an evocation of mood. It is about a town with no reason to exist, and people with no reason to live there. The only hope is in transgression, as Ruth knows when she seduces Sonny, the boy half her age."[18]
Leachman appeared in threeMel Brooks films including the comedic horror satireYoung Frankenstein (1974), in which the mere mention of the name of her character, Frau Blücher, elicits the loud neighing of horses (an homage to a cinematic villain stereotype).[20] Christopher Connor ofThe Film Magazine wrote of her role that it provides "fine contrasts and plenty of comedic moments".[21] She also acted in his thriller spoofHigh Anxiety (1977) as the demented villainess and psychiatric nurse Charlotte Diesel. In the epic satireHistory of the World, Part I (1981) she portrayedMadame Defarge.
In 1977, she guest-starred onThe Muppet Show, episode 2.24.[22] In 1978, she won theSarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theater. Leachman appeared in Disney'sThe North Avenue Irregulars in 1979, playing the role of Claire. In 1987, she hosted the VHS releases ofSchoolhouse Rock![23] and portrayed the evil witch Griselda for Menahem Golan'sCannon Tales production ofHansel and Gretel. In 1986, she returned to television, replacing Charlotte Rae's character Edna Garrett as the den mother inThe Facts of Life. Leachman's role as Edna's sister,Beverly Ann Stickle, continued until the end of the series two years later.
In 1989, Leachman starred on Brooks' short-lived NBC sitcomThe Nutt House in dual roles as head hotel housekeeper Mrs. Frick (a variation of the Frau Blücher character) and Mrs. Nutt, the senile owner of the hotel.[24] During this time she worked as a voice actor in numerous animated films, includingMy Little Pony: The Movie (as the evil witch mother from the Volcano of Gloom),A Troll in Central Park (as Queen Gnorga),The Iron Giant,Gen13, and as the voice of the cantankerous sky pirate Dola inHayao Miyazaki's 1986 featureCastle in the Sky. She played a reclusive but eventually friendly neighbor who regains her Christmas spirit inPrancer. She played Ferris and Jeannie's grandmother in the one-season television seriesFerris Bueller, episode 9, which aired in November of 1990. In 1993, she played Granny in thePenelope Spheeris filmThe Beverly Hillbillies. In 1999, Leachman starred inThanks, a sitcom about a 17th-century Puritan family that was cancelled after six episodes. Leachman played embittered, greedy,Slavic Canadian "Grandma Ida" on theFox sitcomMalcolm in the Middle, for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (2006).[25] She was nominated for playing the character for six consecutive years.
In 2006, Leachman's performance alongsideBen Kingsley andAnnette Bening in theHBO specialMrs. Harris earned her nominations for aPrimetime Emmy Award, and aScreen Actors Guild Award. She auditioned to revive her role fromYoung Frankenstein in the 2007 Broadway production oppositeMegan Mullally (who replacedKristin Chenoweth) andRoger Bart.Andrea Martin was cast instead. Brooks was quoted as joking that Leachman, then 81, was too old for the role. "We don't want her to die on stage," Brooks (also 81, at the time) told columnistArmy Archerd, a statement to which Leachman took umbrage.[28] However, due to Leachman's success onDancing with the Stars, Brooks then, doing a U-turn, reportedly asked her to reprise her role as Frau Blücher in the Broadway production ofYoung Frankenstein after the departure ofBeth Leavel, who had succeeded Martin.[29][30] The Broadway production closed before this could happen.
One of Leachman's final roles was as Zorya Vechernyaya, one of the "old gods" who represented the evening star, in season one (2019) of the Showtime seriesAmerican Gods. Leachman appears in the filmNot to Forget (2021) in her final role. The movie, directed by Valerio Zanoli, starsKaren Grassle and 5 Academy Award winners: Cloris Leachman,Louis Gossett Jr,Tatum O'Neal,George Chakiris, andOlympia Dukakis.[35][36][37]
From 1953 to 1978, Leachman was married to HollywoodimpresarioGeorge Englund. Her former mother-in-law was character actressMabel Albertson. The marriage produced four sons and one daughter: Bryan (died 1986), Morgan, Adam, Dinah, and George. Some of them are in show business. Her son Morgan played Dylan onGuiding Light for several years. The Englunds wereBel Air neighbors ofJudy Garland,Sidney Luft, and their children,Lorna and Joey Luft, during the early 1960s. Lorna Luft stated in her memoirMe and My Shadows: A Family Memoir that Leachman was "the kind of mom I'd only seen on TV". Knowing of the turmoil at the Luft home, but never mentioning it, Leachman prepared meals for the children and made them feel welcome when they needed a place to stay.[43]
Leachman was also a friend ofMort Sahl andMarlon Brando, whom she met while studying underElia Kazan in the 1950s. She introduced him to her husband, who became close to Brando, as well, directing him inThe Ugly American (1963) and writing a memoir about their friendship calledMarlon Brando: The Way It's Never Been Done Before (2005).[44]
Leachman was avegetarian and an animal rights activist. In 1997, she appeared on the cover ofAlternative Medicine Digest, posing nude while body-painted with images of fruit in a parody ofDemi Moore's 1991Vanity Fair cover photo.[citation needed] She also posed clad in a dress made of lettuce for a 2009PETA advertisement.[45] In 2013, she starred in a comedic PETA ad onspay and neuter in which she opened a condom wrapper with her teeth.[46] Leachman's granddaughter,Anabel Englund, is a singer.[47] In addition to Anabel, Leachman had other grandchildren, and one great-grandson, Braden.[48] Leachman was anatheist.[49]
Leachman died at her home inEncinitas, California, at the age of 94. The cause of death was a stroke withCOVID-19 as a contributing factor.[50][51] Leachman's manager, Juliet Green, confirmed toPeople magazine that she had died on January 27, 2021. Leachman's son also confirmed this date toThe New York Times.[52][53][54] However, some sources cited a death date of January 26.[55][56] Her body was cremated on February 7, 2021.
Leachman's autobiography,Cloris: My Autobiography,[57] was published in March 2009. She co-authored the bestselling book with her ex-husbandGeorge Englund.
