Academy Award winner Cloris Leachman, one among the foremost decorated actors in television history, best known for enjoying nosy neighbor Phyllis on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," died Wednesday. She was 94.
She died of natural causes at her range in Encinitas, California, spokesperson Monique Moss confirmed.
Leachman won eight Emmy Awards in her storied television career, tied with Julia Louis-Dreyfus for the foremost individual acting awards in Emmy's history. Leachman's Facebook cover shot depicts her sitting on a couch, surrounded by golden pals.
Leachman, who was inducted into this Academy like Television Arts & Sciences' Hall of Fame in 2011, got the award for the best-supporting actress during a comedy series in 1974 and 1975 for her work as Moore's snooty neighbor, Phyllis Lindstrom.
The show and therefore the character were so popular that Leachman was spun off into her show, "Phyllis."
She won the 1973 Emmy for best leading actress within the TV movie "A fresh Life," playing a first-time mother in the time of life — a daring act within the era. Leachman did 46 when the "ABC Movie of the Week" aired at Feb. 20, 1973.
Other Emmy wins included awards in 1975 for the best-supporting actress during a variety or musical for her ad "Cher," in 1984 for best variety performance within the "Screen Actors Guild 50th Anniversary Celebration" and into 1988 for best actor during a guest role to "Promised Land."
Younger TV fans probably know Leachman best for "Malcolm within the Middle" as Malcolm's hilariously scheming grandmother. She was also a contestant on the 2008-09 season of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars"; at the time, she was the oldest competitor within the show's history, at age 82.
This "Malcolm" gigs got her Emmy Awards in 2002 and 2006 for the best guest actress as a comedy.
Leachman insisted that she went into every awards night assuming she wasn't going home with a statue.
"I never had a speech because I never thought I used to be getting to win," Leachman said the TV academy during a 2015 interview.
"But if you're good at what you are doing — and that I always shall be good at what I do — then the acclaim is simply the follow-through. But it's an exquisite feeling," she said.
Leachman also won an Oscar, earning the 1971 award for best-supporting actress in "The Last Movie ." She played Ruth Popper, the lonely wife of the town's highschool coach.
Her film work also included one fan-favorite performance while Frau Blücher in Mel Brooks' comedy classic "Young Frankenstein."
"Such sad news—Cloris was insanely talented," Brooks tweeted Wednesday. "She could cause you to laugh or cry at the drop of a hat. Always such a pleasure to possess on set. whenever I hear a horse whinny I will be able to forever consider Cloris' unforgettable Frau Blücher. She is irreplaceable, and can be greatly missed."
But Leachman is going to be best referred to as "Mary's" neighbor and landlady. Of the actors who were in as many "Mary Tyler Moore Show" episodes as Leachman, those that have died include Moore, Ted Knight, Georgia Engel, and Valerie Harper.
Cast member Ed Asner tweeted a photograph of himself with Leachman on Wednesday.
"The picture that we all have of Mary, that's how she was — sweet, kind, so tender, so delicate," Leachman said. "She was America's sweetheart. We loved you."
In the show, Leachman's Phyllis frequently and hilariously clashed with Harper's Rhoda in on-screen conflicts that were the other of the real world.
"'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' was gorgeously written. My character, Phyllis, wanted Mary to be her ally ... and she or he couldn't stand Rhoda. Ha! Valerie and that I was best friends," Leachman told the TV academy n 2015.
Leachman had bogged down in recent years. during a 2015 interview with NBC's "TODAY" show, she struggled to get out of a chair.
"I'm getting to rise. it's extremely difficult. I jar get here far," said Leachman, who did then 89, putting her hands on the chair's arms and pushing herself up several inches before freezing.
Even with a slower body, Leachman showed that her comedic mind was sharp as ever with a wonderfully timed "And then you are available," signaling for co-hosts Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford, who came to her rescue.
Leachman credited her initial interest in radio and tv to her mother, also named Cloris, who encouraged her to explore her creative side.
"Momma never pushed me to anything, always a call for participation," Leachman said at her 2011 induction into the TV academy's Hall of Fame.
Leachman, who was born and raised in Iowa, was among the various famous actors who studied at Northwestern University. She moved to the outskirts of Chicago and competed within the 1946 Miss America competition as Miss Illinois.
"She loved her children and her grandchildren ferociously," Leachman's longtime manager Juliet Green said during a statement after her death. "A lifelong vegetarian, she was a fanatical advocate for animal rights. The family requests that any donations in her name be made to PETA or Last Chance for Animals."
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