RIP: Eileen Brennan (1932-2013)

[Brian in Mesa]

RIP: Eileen Brennan (1932-2013)

Actress Eileen Brennan Dies at 80

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/actress-eileen-brennan-dies-595503

Eileen Brennan, the veteran actress perhaps best known for her role as the good-hearted Texas waitress in Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show, has died. She was 80.

Brennan died early Sunday at her home in Burbank of bladder cancer, her publicist told The Hollywood Reporter.

Brennan also received a best supporting actress Oscar nomination for playing tough drill captain Doreen Lewis opposite Goldie Hawn in the fish-out-of-water comedy Private Benjamin (1980). She reprised the role in the CBS series that starred Lorna Patterson in the title role and won an Emmy, her only win out of her seven career nominations.

Brennan also memorably appeared as brothel madam Billie, a confidant of con man Paul Newman, in the best picture Oscar winner The Sting (1973); as Peter Falk’s long-suffering secretary, Tess, in the classic Agatha Christie spoof Murder by Death (1976), written by Neil Simon; and as Mrs. Peacock in Clue (1985). She often played world-weary, sympathetic characters yet demonstrated a real comic flair throughout her career.

 

[AzStevenCal]

RIP: Eileen Brennan (1932-2013)

Actress Eileen Brennan Dies at 80

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/actress-eileen-brennan-dies-595503

Eileen Brennan, the veteran actress perhaps best known for her role as the good-hearted Texas waitress in Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show, has died. She was 80.

Brennan died early Sunday at her home in Burbank of bladder cancer, her publicist told The Hollywood Reporter.

Brennan also received a best supporting actress Oscar nomination for playing tough drill captain Doreen Lewis opposite Goldie Hawn in the fish-out-of-water comedy Private Benjamin (1980). She reprised the role in the CBS series that starred Lorna Patterson in the title role and won an Emmy, her only win out of her seven career nominations.

Brennan also memorably appeared as brothel madam Billie, a confidant of con man Paul Newman, in the best picture Oscar winner The Sting (1973); as Peter Falk’s long-suffering secretary, Tess, in the classic Agatha Christie spoof Murder by Death (1976), written by Neil Simon; and as Mrs. Peacock in Clue (1985). She often played world-weary, sympathetic characters yet demonstrated a real comic flair throughout her career.

I remember her best from the two mystery spoofs she did around the same time in the late 70's; Murder By Death and The Cheap Detective. I first noticed her on Laugh-in but at the time I had trouble telling her apart from Ruth Buzzi and Jo Ann Worley, she almost seemed like a cross between those two. I don't remember just what her injuries were but I do remember she was really starting to be the "middle aged woman of choice" in Hollywood until her car accident derailed her career. RIP

Steve

 

[Brian in Mesa]

I remember her best from the two mystery spoofs she did around the same time in the late 70's; Murder By Death and The Cheap Detective. I first noticed her on Laugh-in but at the time I had trouble telling her apart from Ruth Buzzi and Jo Ann Worley, she almost seemed like a cross between those two. I don't remember just what her injuries were but I do remember she was really starting to be the "middle aged woman of choice" in Hollywood until her car accident derailed her career. RIP

Steve

Yeah, a lot of hard times from that one misstep...

In October 1982, Brennan had just finished dining with Hawn in Venice, Calif., when she stepped into the path of an oncoming car. She suffered severe injuries to her legs and jaw, had an eyeball wrenched from its socket and broke multiple bones in her face. That led to an addiction to prescription pain pills, followed by a dependence on antidepressants and antianxiety medication.

She made her return with a role in the ABC comedy Off the Rack in January 1984, still without any feeling on the left side of her face and a steel plate in her left leg. Then, a few months later, she entered the Betty Ford Center for six weeks of treatment.

“It was my only hope,” she told People magazine in 1985. “I had reached the stage where I was taking anything I could get my hands on.”

 

[AzStevenCal]

Yeah, a lot of hard times from that one misstep...

In October 1982, Brennan had just finished dining with Hawn in Venice, Calif., when she stepped into the path of an oncoming car. She suffered severe injuries to her legs and jaw, had an eyeball wrenched from its socket and broke multiple bones in her face. That led to an addiction to prescription pain pills, followed by a dependence on antidepressants and antianxiety medication.

She made her return with a role in the ABC comedy Off the Rack in January 1984, still without any feeling on the left side of her face and a steel plate in her left leg. Then, a few months later, she entered the Betty Ford Center for six weeks of treatment.

“It was my only hope,” she told People magazine in 1985. “I had reached the stage where I was taking anything I could get my hands on.”

Wow. I didn't remember that she was a pedestrian and I forgot all about the dependency issues. I guess I could have actually followed the link you provided instead of relying on my failing memory. OTOH, I'm at that age where you either use your memory or lose it.

Steve

 

[NJCardFan]

I thought she was a great actress. Her portrayal of Mrs. Peacock was pure genius.