Cloris Leachman was so much more than Mary Tyler Moore’s overbearing friend and landlord, or the canny Frau Blücher who startled the horses in Young Frankenstein. The actress has a long line of engaging performances to her credit, and will always be remembered as a versatile, quirky and beautiful lady who gave off sparks, earning her an Oscar for Best-Supporting Actress as the sullen and love starved Ruth Popper in The Last Picture Show (1971).
I’ve loved her more obscure roles in television movies, in episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents’ Where Beauty Lies, and more. Who can forget her and John Larch at the mercy of Billy Mumy in The Twilight Zone episode It’s a Good Life? There’s so much to explore of her long career. That’s what I’ll be doing over the next few days. Spending some time saying goodbye to her by watching her come alive on screen.
Thank goodness we’ll always have her bright and everlasting depth and humor to get us through even the darkest times.
Such a beautiful smile, and a truly versatile actress.
She is very beautiful and could really let that show on screen or look like a screeching crone! Such a great actress!