At the age of 83, Melinda Dillon died. The actress died on January 9, 2023, according to her death certificate, though no cause of death was given.
After the news broke, tributes poured in
According to an obituary, Melinda Dillon, who played a frantic but loving mother in the holiday classic “A Christmas Story,” died on January 9 at the age of 83.
People took to social media to pay their respects after learning of her untimely death. Melinda Dillon “was such a terrific actor, with such a tremendous delicacy about her,” American singer Barbra Streisand said on Twitter. As the director of Prince of Tides, she was a joy to work with. I wish her the peace she deserves.
“The finale of A Christmas Story hits a WHOLE lot deeper today,” another user said. Please allow Melinda Dillon’s soul to rest in peace.” Melinda Dillon “had a warm, empathic, and authentic screen presence,” according to author Richard Roeper. “A Christmas Story,” “Absence of Malice,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” and “Magnolia” are among her works that have endured.
Lou Diamond Phillips expressed his grief over Melinda Dillon’s death
Sioux City, my second feature film, starred her as my adoptive mother. What a blessing and a beacon of hope. I will be eternally grateful for the opportunity to meet her. RIP”.
From the Playhouse to the Movie Theater
Melinda Dillon, a stunning beauty, was a sight to behold. She began her career as an improv comedian and stage actor, but her beauty quickly drew the attention of the film industry. She made her Broadway debut in the 1962 production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Despite the recognition, she left the production after nine months to enter a mental health facility. “I was in ‘Virginia Woolf,’ and I just went crazy; it was truly that easy,” she told a 1976 interviewer. Because the play was so long, the actors’ union refused to allow a matinée performance, and because I prefer to live my life on my own terms, I came to that conclusion.
“We had to have a whole other cast for it,” Melinda explained, “but I was called in to do it many, many times because the gal would get sick.” I’d work on it for three hours in the afternoon, two hours with Lee Strasberg, and three hours on the play itself.”
Melinda, on the other hand, was unstoppable. She received two Academy Award nominations for her roles in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Absence of Malice. However, she rose to fame as Mother Parker in the 1983 Christmas film A Christmas Story (1983). But, she has also appeared in the films Bound for Glory, F.I.S.T., The Prince of Tides (1991), and Magnolia. She married and divorced actor Richard Libertini, with whom she had a son.
Also read: Surprise Your Loved Ones This Christmas: Great Christmas Gift Ideas!
