Los Angeles

Academy Award-Winning Film, TV Actress Cloris Leachman Dead At 94

January 28, 2021 / 5:15 AM PST / KCAL News

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - Cloris Leachman, an Academy Award-winning actress known for her roles in films "Young Frankenstein" and "The Last Picture Show", and stints on TV shows such as "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" has died. She was 94.

Cloris Leachman during "Spanglish" Press Conference with Adam Sandler, Tea Leoni, James L. Brooks, Paz Vega and Cloris Leachman at Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles, California, United States. (Photo by Vera Anderson/WireImage)

Leachman died of natural causes at her home in Encinitas, California, publicist Monique Moss said Wednesday. Her daughter was at her side, Moss said.

In a career spanning two decades, Leachman earned two Emmys for her role as landlady Phyllis on "Mary Tyler Moore", which led to a spinoff series and a Golden Globe for the actress.

Cloris Leachman (left), Mary Tyler Moore (centre), Valerie Harper pose, sitting on stools, wearing Seventies fashions, in a publicity portrait issued for the US television series, 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', USA, circa 1974. The sitcom starred Leachman as 'Phyllis Lindstrom', Tyler Moore as 'Mary Richards', and Harper as 'Rhoda Morgenstern'. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)

She also appeared as the mother of Timmy on the "Lassie" series. She played a frontier prostitute in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," a crime spree family member in "Crazy Mama," and the infamous Frau Bucher in Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein."