Cloris Leachman Biography
Summary
"Cloris Leachman" (born April 30, 1926) is an Academy Award-winning American actress of stage, film and television. She has won eight primetime Emmy Awards—more than any other female performer—and one Daytime Emmy Award. She won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in the 1971 film "The Last Picture Show", though she is best known for playing the nosy neighbor Phyllis Lindstrom on the 1970s TV series "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", and then later on the spinoff series, "Phyllis". She also appeared in three Mel Brooks films, including "Young Frankenstein".
Leachman is currently a contestant on Season 7 of "Dancing With The Stars", and is paired with Corky Ballas. She is the oldest contestant to appear on the series.
Biography
Early life
Leachman, the eldest of three sisters, was born in Des Moines, Iowa, the daughter of Cloris and Buck Leachman, who owned a lumber company. She graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1944. She later majored in drama at Northwestern University, where she was a member of Gamma Phi Beta and a classmate of future comic actor Paul Lynde. Leachman began appearing on television and in films shortly after competing in Miss America as Miss Chicago 1946. Before that she was very active at the Des Moines Playhouse starring in many productions.
Early career
After winning a scholarship in the beauty pageant, Leachman studied acting in New York City at the Actors Studio with Elia Kazan. She appeared in the Broadway production of William Inge's "Come Back, Little Sheba".
She appeared in many live television broadcasts in the 1950s, including such programs as "Suspense" and "Studio One". She was also one of the Raisonette Girls in the 1960s. She made her feature film debut in Robert Aldrich's film noir classic "Kiss Me Deadly", released in 1955. Leachman was several months pregnant during the filming, and appears in one scene running down a darkened highway wearing only a trenchcoat. A year later she appeared opposite Paul Newman and Lee Marvin in "The Rack" (1956). She appeared with Newman again, in a brief role as a prostitute in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969).
She continued to mainly work on television, with appearances including the classic "It's a Good Life" episode of "The Twilight Zone", in which she played Billy Mumy's mother; "Rawhide"; and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". Leachman appeared as Ruth Martin, Timmy's adoptive mom, in the last half of season four (1957) of Lassie. She was replaced by June Lockhart in 1958. In 1959, she appeared in an episode of "One Step Beyond" entitled "The Dark Room", where she portrayed an American photographer living in Paris.
Mel Brooks films
Leachman has appeared in three Mel Brooks films. She played "Frau Blücher" in "Young Frankenstein" (1974), in which the mere mention of her character's name frightens all horses within earshot (merely a silly joke: Blücher is rumored to be German for 'glue,' although the actual word for glue is Klebstoff). She also appeared in "High Anxiety" (1977), as demented psychiatric nurse Charlotte Diesel, and as Madame Defarge in the segment of "History of the World: Part I" (1981) which parodied Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities".
She auditioned for a chance in reviving her role from "Young Frankenstein" in the 2007 Broadway production opposite Megan Mullally (replacing formerly cast Kristin Chenoweth) and Roger Bart. However, Andrea Martin was cast in the role. Mel Brooks was quoted as saying that Leachman, at 81, was too old for the role. 'We don't want her to die on stage,' he told columnist Army Archerd.
Personal life
From 1953 to 1979, Leachman was married to Hollywood impresario George Englund. The marriage produced five children, most of whom are in show business. Her son George Englund, Jr., was once married to actress Sharon Stone. Her son Morgan played Dylan on Guiding Light throughout the 1980's and early 1990's. Leachman was predeceased by her son, Bryan, who died from a drug overdose in 1986. Some reports state that it was an overdose of ulcer medication, while others, such as in the Lifetime television program "Intimate Portrait: Cloris Leachman" (in which Leachman participated), state that it was from cocaine.
Leachman's former mother-in-law was character actress Mabel Albertson, best known for playing Samantha's mother-in-law on the ABC sitcom "Bewitched". Mabel's brother, actor Jack Albertson, won his Academy Award three years before Leachman did.
Cloris posed 'au naturel' on the cover of 'Alternative Medicine Digest' (issue 15, 1997) body-painted with images of fruit. This was a parody, or imitation, of the famous Demi Moore Vanity Fair magazine cover photo.
Leachman was a friend of Marlon Brando, whom she met while studying under Elia Kazan in the 1950s. She introduced him to her husband, who became close to Brando as well, directing him in "The Ugly American" and writing a memoir about their friendship called "Marlon Brando: The Way It's Never Been Done Before" (2005).
Leachman is a long-time vegetarian and member of the Democratic Party. She is supporting Barack Obama for President.
Cloris is currently a contestant on Season 7 of Dancing With The Stars, and is paired with Corky Ballas.
Filmography
"Carnegie Hall" (1947)
"Kiss Me Deadly" (1955)
"The Rack" (1956)
"The Chapman Report" (1962)
"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969)
"Lovers and Other Strangers" (1970)
"WUSA" (1970)
"The People Next Door" (1970)
"The Steagle" (1971)
"The Last Picture Show" (1971)
"Charley and the Angel" (1973)
"Dillinger" (1973)
"Happy Mother's Day, Love George" (1973)
"Daisy Miller" (1974)
"Young Frankenstein" (1974)
"Crazy Mama" (1975)
"The Mouse and His Child" (1977) (voice)
"High Anxiety" (1977)
"The Muppet Movie" (1979) (cameo)
"The North Avenue Irregulars" (1979)
"Scavenger Hunt" (1979)
"Soggy Bottom, USA" (1980)
Schoolhouse Rock Golden Book Videos
"Herbie Goes Bananas" (1980)
"Foolin' Around" (1980)
"Yesterday" (1981)
"History of the World, Part I" (1981)
"My Strange Uncle" (1981) (short subject)
"Shadow Play" (1986)
"My Little Pony: The Movie" (1986) (voice)
"Walk Like a Man" (1987)
"Hansel and Gretel" (1988)
"Prancer" (1989)
"Texasville" (1990)
"Love Hurts" (1991)
"The Giant of Thunder Mountain" (1991) (narrator)
"Picture This: The Times of Peter Bogdanovich in Archer City, Texas" (1991)
"Falsely Accused (1993)
"My Boyfriend's Back" (1993)
"The Beverly Hillbillies" (1993)
"Double, Double, Toil and Trouble" (1993)
"A Troll in Central Park" (1994) (voice)
"Nobody's Girls: Five Women of the West" (1995) (documentary)
"Now and Then" (1995)
"Beavis and Butt-head Do America" (1996) (voice)
"Never Too Late" (1997)
"Touched by an Angel (as Ruth)" (1997 2003))
"Gen¹³" (1998) (voice) (unreleased)
"The Iron Giant" (1999) (voice)
"Music of the Heart" (1999)
"Hanging Up" (2000)
"The Amati Girls" (2000)
"Manna from Heaven" (2002)
"Alex & Emma" (2003)
"Bad Santa" (2003)
"Castle in the Sky" (1986) (voice in 2003 English dubbed version)
"The Californians" (2004)
"Spanglish" (2004)
"The Longest Yard" (2005)
"Sky High" (2005)
"Scary Movie 4" (2006)
"Beerfest" (2006)
"American Cowslip" (2008)
"The Women" (2008)
"New York, I Love You" (2009)
Television work
"Hold It Please" (1949) (canceled after 3 episodes)
"Charlie Wild, Private Detective" (1950-1952)
"Bob and Ray" (regular performer in 1952)
"Lassie" (cast member from 1957-1958)
"The Man in the Moon" (1960)
"The Twilight Zone (1961)
"Silent Night, Lonely Night" (1969)
"The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (cast member from 1970-1975)
"Suddenly Single" (1971)
"Of Thee I Sing" (1972)
"Haunts of the Very Rich" (1972)
"A Brand New Life" (1973)
"Crime Club" (1973)
"Dying Room Only" (1973)
"The Migrants" (1974)
"Hitchhike!" (1974)
"Pete 'n' Tillie" (1974)
"Thursday's Game" (1974)
"Ernie, Madge and Artie" (1974)
"Death Sentence" (1974)
"Someone I Touched" (1975)
"A Girl Named Sooner" (1975)
"Phyllis" (1975-1977)
"Death Scream" (1975)
"The New Original Wonder Woman" (1975) (pilot for series)
"The Love Boat" (1976) (pilot for series)
"It Happened One Christmas" (1977)
"The Muppet Show" (1978)
"Long Journey Back" (1978)
"Backstairs at the White House" (1979) (miniseries)
"Willa" (1979)
"Mrs. R's Daughter" (1979)
"S.O.S. Titanic" (1979)
"The Oldest Living Graduate" (1980)
"The Acorn People" (1981)
"Advice to the Lovelorn" (1981)
"Miss All-American Beauty" (1982)
"The Woman Who Willed a Miracle" (1983)
"Dixie: Changing Habits" (1983)
"The Demon Murder Case" (1983)
"Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter" (1984)
"Breakfast with Les and Bess" (1985)
"Deadly Intentions" (1985)
"Blind Alleys" (1985)
"Love Is Never Silent" (1985)
"The Little Troll Prince" (1985) (voice)
"Ladies of the Corridor" (1986)
"Castle in the Sky" (1986)
"The Facts of Life" (cast member from 1986-1988)
"The Facts of Life Down Under" (1987)
"Going to the Chapel" (1988)
"The Nutt House" (1989) (canceled after a few weeks)
"Fine Things" (1990)
"The Simpsons" (1991) (voice)
"Double, Double, Toil and Trouble (1993)
"The Nanny" (1994)
"Malcolm in The Middle"
"The Ellen Show" (2001)
"Family Guy" (2004) (voice)
"Joan of Arcadia" (2004) (TV episode 'The Cat')
"Beach Girls" (2005 mini-series)
"Two and A Half Men" (TV episode 'Madame And Her Special Friend') (2005)
"The Wedding Bells" (TV episode 'The Fantasy') (2007)
"Lake Placid 2" (2007)
"The Roast of Bob Saget" (2008)
"Dancing With The Stars" (2008)
"Love Takes Wing" (2009)
External links
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Cloris Leachman.
