Cloris Leachman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Cloris Leachman
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Leachman in a publicity photo in July 1970
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| Born | April 30, 1926 Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.
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| Died | January 27, 2021 (aged 94) Encinitas, California, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Northwestern University |
| Occupation | Actress, comedian |
| Years active | 1942–present |
| Spouse(s) |
George Englund
(m. 1953; div. 1979) |
| Children | 5 |
| Relatives | Claiborne Cary (sister) Anabel Englund (granddaughter) |
Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 26, 2021) was an American actress and comedian. She had a very long career that lasted over seventy years! She won many important awards. These included eight Primetime Emmy Awards, one Daytime Emmy Award, and an Academy Award. She won the Academy Award for her role in the movie The Last Picture Show (1971).
Before becoming famous, Leachman was crowned Miss Illinois. She then competed in the Miss America pageant in 1946. She placed in the Top 16. Her most well-known role was as Phyllis Lindstrom. Phyllis was a nosy and clever landlady on the CBS TV show The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Later, she got her own spin-off show called Phyllis in the 1970s.
Cloris Leachman also appeared in three movies by the famous director Mel Brooks. These included Young Frankenstein (1974). She played Beverly Ann Stickle on the NBC show The Facts of Life from 1986 to 1988. She was also Daisy May Moses in the movie The Beverly Hillbillies (1993).
In the 2000s, Leachman had a regular role as Grandma Ida on the Fox TV show Malcolm in the Middle. In 2008, she was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. She was 82 years old at the time, making her the oldest person to compete on the show. From 2010 to 2014, she starred as Maw Maw on the Fox show Raising Hope. She also played Zorya Vechernyaya on the Starz drama American Gods.
Cloris Leachman passed away peacefully on January 26, 2021. She was 94 years old and was at her home in Encinitas, California.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Cloris Leachman was born in Des Moines, Iowa. She was the oldest of three sisters. She went to Theodore Roosevelt High School. Her father, Berkeley Claiborne "Buck" Leachman, worked at his family's lumber company. Her mother was Cloris Wallace.
Her younger sister, Mary, did not become an actress. Her middle sister, Claiborne Cary, was also an actress and singer. Cloris's grandmother on her mother's side was from Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic).
When she was a teenager, Leachman acted in plays. These plays were put on by local youth groups at Drake University on weekends. After high school, she studied drama at Illinois State University. She later went to Northwestern University. She started appearing on television and in movies soon after competing in the Miss America pageant in 1946.
A Long Acting Career
Starting Out in Acting
After winning a scholarship from the Miss America pageant, Leachman studied acting. She learned from a famous teacher named Elia Kazan in New York City. She took over the role of Nellie Forbush in the original Broadway musical South Pacific.
Her first movie role was as an extra in Carnegie Hall (1947). Her first real acting role was in the movie Kiss Me Deadly (1955). She was pregnant during the filming of this movie. A year later, she acted with famous actors Paul Newman and Lee Marvin in The Rack (1956). She also had a small role with Paul Newman again in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).
In the 1950s, Leachman appeared in many live television shows. She continued to work mostly in TV. She was in shows like Rawhide and The Twilight Zone. During this time, she also appeared on the popular show Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
She later played Ruth Martin in the TV show Lassie in 1957. However, she left the show because she felt her character only baked cookies. June Lockhart replaced her in 1958.
Dancing with the Stars and Other Achievements
Leachman was a contestant on the seventh season of Dancing with the Stars. She was paired with Corky Ballas. As mentioned, she was the oldest person to compete on the show at that time.
She also lent her voice to many animated movies.
In 2011, Cloris Leachman was added to the Television Academy Hall of Fame. This is a very special honor for people who have done great things in television. In the same year, she was ranked #23 on a TV show called Funniest Women on TV.
Her book about her life, Cloris: My Autobiography, was published in March 2009.
Cloris Leachman's granddaughter, Anabel Englund, is a singer. Besides Anabel, Cloris had five other grandchildren: Portia, Skye, Arielle, Jackson, and Hallelujah. She also had one great-grandson, Braden.
Images for kids
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Betty White (left) and Leachman (right) as Sue Ann Nivens and Phyllis Lindstrom on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (August 1973)
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Cloris Leachman as Phyllis Lindstrom (1974)
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Leachman in 1975
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Leachman in November 2015
See also
In Spanish: Cloris Leachman para niños
