Cloris Leachman
1924 - 2021
Originally, I wasn't going to do an Absent Friends post on Cloris Leachman, but after making some mention of her on Facebook today, I decided, Nah, she needs the full treatment.
Cloris Leachman died earlier this week at age 94. Everyone's remembrances of her seem to center upon her roles in the Mary Tyler Moore Show, Phyllis, Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein", and even her stint on Dancing With The Stars. However, in reading about her, I learned that she appeared on Broadway in "South Pacific", replacing Mary Martin in the role of Nellie Forbush, and was once a contestant in the Miss America Pageant. Quite a resume. My first thought of her, though, always goes back to her Oscar winning role in Peter Bogdanovich's "The Last Picture Show" (1971) when she played frustrated and unappreciated small town Texas housewife Ruth Popper. It was a gut wrenching performance. I watched "The Last Picture Show" a few years back, and it still holds up remarkably well as a period drama. If you've never seen it, you should. It's not necessarily an "easy" movie to watch, but it is a good one.
And in case you've forgotten, here is why Cloris Leachman won an Oscar for that movie:
RIP CLoris Leachman
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