Melinda Dillon, who earned two Oscar nominations for her stellar roles in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Absence of Malice, passed away at the age of 83. A death notice revealed that the actress died on January 9, 2023, and no cause of death has been provided yet.
Tributes Pour After The News…
Melinda Dillon, best known for the portrayal of a harried but loving mother in A Christmas Story, passed away on Jan. 9 at 83, according to a death notice. The news of her death was announced by her family members in an obituary, but no cause of death has been revealed yet.
Tributes started pouring in on social media as soon as people learnt about her sad demise. American singer, Barbra Streisand tweeted, “Melinda Dillon was such a great actress, with a wonderful delicacy about her. She was a delight to direct in Prince of Tides. May she rest in peace”
Another person tweeted, “The ending to A Christmas Story hits a WHOLE lot deeper now. RIP Melinda Dillon.” Author Richard Roeper tweeted, “Melinda Dillon had a warm and empathetic and authentic screen presence. Her work endures in a wide range of genres, in films such as “A Christmas Story,” “Absence of Malice,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Magnolia.” Rest in peace.”
Lou Diamond Phillips wrote, “So very, very sad to hear of the passing of Melinda Dillon. She played my adopted mother in Sioux City, my second directorial effort. What a Light and a Blessing. So effortless in her work that it was easy to overlook how brilliant she was. I feel so lucky to have known her. RIP”.
A Journey From Theatre To Big Screen
Melinda Dillon was a feast to watch. The gorgeous star started her career as an improv comedian and stage actress. In 1962, she made her Broadway debut in the original production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Melinda received a Tony nomination for the same in 1963.
Despite the honor, she left the production after nine months to seek treatment at a psychiatric hospital. “I was in ‘Virginia Woolf,’ and I just went crazy; it was really that simple,” she revealed in a 1976 interview. “I think it was the way I was living; the play was so long and the actors’ union wouldn’t let us play the matinee.”
Melinda continued, “We had to have a whole different cast for that, but I was called in to do it many, many times because the gal would get sick. I would do it three hours in the afternoon, then study with Lee Strasberg for two hours, and do the play three hours at night.”
But hey, Melinda was unstoppable. She got two Oscar nominations for her roles in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Absence of Malice. She is also remembered for her role as Mother Parker in the holiday classic A Christmas Story (1983). Her other film roles include Bound for Glory, F.I.S.T., The Prince of Tides (1991), and Magnolia. She was married to actor Richard Libertini (divorced in 1978) and shared a son with the actor.
