Cloris Leachman

While other actresses complain about the lack of roles for mature women, this incredibly versatile, octogenarian character player of stage and screen has never lacked for work. Involved in entertainment since her youth, the native Midwesterner performed on the radio while still in high school and headed for New York after competing in the 1946 Miss America pageant. Yet Leachman was never known for her looks. Instead, the Actors Studio-trained thespian impressed audiences with her chameleonlike talents, racking up dramatic credits on Broadway, TV and occasionally film. Although she slowed her pace a bit in the '50s and '60s to raise her five children with producer-director George Englund, she found her greatest success well into her forties. In 1970, she signed on to Mary Tyler Moore as the title character's nosy landlord, a comedic role that earned her two Emmys as well as her own spin-off sitcom. During her tenure, she took home another Emmy for her serious turn as a middle-aged wife facing motherhood in A Brand New Life, the first of many successful TV-movies starring Leachman. She also snagged an Oscar for her devastating performance as a lonely wife in 1971's The Last Picture Show. Although that big-screen success led to a handful of plum parts — notably a trio of broad roles in three Mel Brooks comedies, including her hilarious turn as Frau Blücher in Young Frankenstein, which showed off her knack for bizarre accents — the small screen and, to a lesser extent, the stage remained her mediums. By 2006, she had snagged five more Emmys for a total of eight statuettes (plus one Daytime Emmy), and toured the country to great acclaim as the title character in the play Grandma Moses: An American Primitive. And in the '00s, she began popping up in movies more than ever before, usually playing outrageous grandmothers, from senile (Bad Santa) to boozy (Spanglish) to just plain disgusting (Beerfest).
Cloris Leachman Fast Facts:

• After winning the title of Miss Chicago 1946, she competed in the Miss America pageant.
• Classmates at Northwestern University included Charlotte Rae — whom she ended up replacing on the sitcom The Facts of Life — and Paul Lynde.
• Former mother-in-law of Sharon Stone.
• As of 2006, she has won eight prime-time Emmys, a record for an actress.

Cloris Leachman Relationships:
• Dinah Englund - Daughter
• Bryan Englund - Son
• Morgan Englund - Son
• George Englund - Ex-husband
• Adam Englund - Son
• Buck Leachman - Father
• Claiborne Cary - Sister
• Cloris Leachman Sr. - Mother
• George Englund Jr. - Son

Cloris Leachman Awards:
• 1974 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Nominee
• 1975 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy - Nominee
• 1972 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Nominee
• 1976 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy - Winner
• 1974 Emmy: Best Lead Actress in Drama - Nominee
• 1974 Emmy: Best Supporting Actress in Comedy - Winner
• 1975 Emmy: Outstanding Continuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in Variety or Music - Winner
• 1976 Emmy: Outstanding Continuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in Variety or Music - Nominee
• 2001 Emmy: Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series - Nominee
• 2002 Emmy: Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series - Winner
• 2003 Emmy: Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series - Nominee
• 2004 Emmy: Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series - Nominee
• 2005 Emmy: Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series - Nominee
• 2006 Emmy: Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series - Winner
• 1998 Emmy: Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series - Winner
• 2005 Emmy: Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series - Nominee
• 1984 Emmy: Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program - Winner
• 1976 Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - Nominee
• 1978 Emmy: Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama or Comedy Special - Nominee
• 1972 Emmy: Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - Nominee
• 1973 Emmy: Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - Nominee
• 1975 Emmy: Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Drama Series - Winner
• 1973 Emmy: Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role - Winner
• 1984 Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Special - Nominee
• 2006 Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie - Nominee
• 1971 Oscar: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - Winner


• College:
• Northwestern University, Evanston, IL (1948)