Celebrity Biographies
Chloris Leachman
She played Frau Blücher, whose name caused thunder and horse neighing when pronounced, in “Young Frankenstein,” and also won an Oscar. Cloris Leachman, an adored comedian in the United States, passed away on January 26, 2021, at the age of 94, at her home in Encinitas, California, accompanied by her daughter. “Incredibly talented, she could make you cry in the blink of an eye. Every time I hear the neighing of a horse, I will think of the unforgettable Frau Blücher from Cloris. She is irreplaceable and we will miss her very much,” said Mel Brooks, upon meeting the news. “Nothing she can say measures up to how much she loved you,” notes Edward Asner, her “Tele Girl” co-star.
Born in Des Moines, Iowa, on April 30, 1926, Cloris Leachman moved to New York when she turned 21. There, she got a job as a model and studied acting with Elia Kazan at the Actors Studio. She debuted as an actress on the Broadway stage, in legendary productions such as “Sundown Beach” (1948) and “South Pacific” (1949).
She achieved enormous popularity in her country, by becoming one of the protagonists of the comedy La chica de la tele , where she played Phyllis Lindstrom, a neighbor and friend of the protagonist. She was so well received that she starred in a spin-off dedicated to her character, Phyllis , which ran for two seasons. Despite everything, she was so hardworking that she did not leave the tables. “I was super busy every day on the TV set. Then at night I was off to play on Broadway. This helped me to be better every day. What a wonderful and exciting learning adventure. It has served me well all these years, I think,” he said in an interview.
Peter Bogdanovich took a chance on casting him in a dramatic role in The Last Picture , opposite Timothy Bottoms , Jeff Bridges , and Cybill Shepherd . For her work as Ruth, wife of the school coach, who has an affair with a young man (Bottoms), Cloris Leachman won a well-deserved Oscar for best supporting actress. She also played a prostitute in Two Men and One Fate , alongside Paul Newman and Robert Redford .
Mel Brooks exploited his comic vision on the big screen, in three titles, Maximum Anxiety , The Crazy History of the World , and above all Young Frankenstein , where he gave life to the austere housekeeper, once Grandfather Frankenstein’s lover.
Married to George Englund, with whom they had five children, Cloris Leachman divorced after 26 years of marriage. All of her children, Adam Englund, Bryan, George Jr., Morgan and Dinah, have dedicated themselves to acting.
He never retired. At the end of her career, she stood out as a grandmother in the popular series Malcolm , for which she received five Emmy Award nominations, and won one, the ninth she had received throughout her career, making her the most recognized professional in these awards. Shortly before her death, the animated film The Croods: a new era premiered , where she gave the voice to the grandmother of the protagonists.