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Melinda Dillon, a two-time Oscar-nominated actress and star ofA Christmas Story, is dead. She was 83.
Before Dillon took on one of her most recognized roles as the Parker family matriarch in 1983’sA Christmas Story, the actress began her career performing in the original 1962 production ofWho’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which earned her aTony Award nomination.
From left: Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, Ian Petrella and Peter Billingsley inA Christmas Story(1983).MGM/Everett
Dillon added to hertheatre creditsthroughout the late ’60s, performing in 1967’sYou Know I Can’t Hear You When the Water’s Running.
Afterfocusing more on television and film roles, including the 1969 comedyThe April Fools, she was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in the 1976 Woody Guthrie biopicBound for Glory.
One year later, she appeared in Steven Spielberg’sClose Encounters of the Third Kind, which earned her the first of two Oscar nominations, with the second coming for her role in 1981’sAbsence of Malice.
“It very much is, in many ways, a love letter to the Old Man character and to Darren himself,” he told PEOPLEin October. “Darren was the best. He was such a gifted actor and a great person and such a mentor to me inthe shooting of the first film, and was kind of like having [another] dad.”
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Dillon also garneredadditional television creditsin the early 2000s with appearances inLaw & Order: Special Victims UnitandHeartland.
After her death was announced on Friday, many paid tribute to the actress, includingtelevision writer Bryan Fuller, who wrote “Rest in power” in a Twitter post.
source: people.com
