Cloris Leachman. Cloris Leachman! It's a hell of a name ain't it. The kind of name most people would change as soon as they hit Hollywood but Cloris Leachman wasn't most people. After coming 16th in a Miss America pageant in 1946 she decided a career in acting was for her and went to study under the famous Elia Kazan. A few years after that she was working on Broadway with none other than Katherine Hepburn, then came TV and after a few years of paying her dues on the small screen her big break came in the form of a very important role in none other than Kiss Me Deadly, Robert Aldrich's seminal noir classic. The rest is history. 69 years in film and TV and still going strong at the ripe old age of 92. She's a little better known most of the heroes in this series because she's been the recipient of an Academy Award but she's still someone we should recognising more.
She's appeared opposite Beavis & Butthead and Perry Mason. She stole the show in the funniest sitcom of the century so far and played the bad guy in a My Little Pony Film. Been the housekeeper of a Transylvanian mansion and had dealings with a sentient Volkswagen Beetle. A dodgy Santa Claus once took advantage of her comatose state to live in her house and she's battled zombies alongside stoned scouts. She's been a gangster's moll, a smalltown woman threatened by an iron colossus who thought he was superman and the matriarch of a very out of place Beverly Hills family. Starred in both primetime family friendly TV shows during the golden age of Hollywood and streaming tv shows about sexy gods on amazon prime 60 years later. Plus every other tv show in between from Gunsmoke to Lassie to The Twilight Zone to The Simpsons. She's done it all. All of it. 281 credited roles in 69 years and still making herself relevant to young kids as Gran in the Croods series of movies. Check out her career here.
Greatest hits
Kiss Me Deadly. Christina, the woman who's violent death sets detective Mike Hammer off on a nightmare journey. Her first film. What a way to start a movie career.
The Last Picture Show. Ruth Popper, a woman very unlucky in love. A heartbreaker of a part that won her a well deserved best supporting actress Oscar.
Young Frankenstein. Frau Blucher. The caretaker of the Frankenstein estate. A no nonsense woman who kicks the whole story into motion.
Malcolm In The Middle. Grandma Ida. An evil aul wagon. A brilliant part in a brilliant show.
Beerfest. Great Gam Gam. Mad for sausage. Prone to traumatising her beloved grandsons with sordid stories of her past. Aces as always.
Previous heroes
James Hong
David Strathairn
Frankie Faison
Conchata Ferrell
Dick Miller
Veronica Cartwright
Edie McClurg
Barry Shabaka Henley
Raymond Cruz
Reg E.Cathey
Elizabeth McGovern
John Amos
Bruce Greenwood
Mary McDonnell
Gerald McSorley
John Rothman
Margo Martindale
Kurtwood Smith
Paula Malcolmson
Luis Guzman
David Morse
Linda Hunt
Keith David
Zeljko Ivanek
Fiona Shaw
Xander Berkeley
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
C.C.H Pounder
William Forsythe
Beth Grant
Sven-Ole Thorsen
Regina King
Ric Young
Mark Rolston
Illeana Douglas
Jeanette Goldstein
Al Leong
Allan Graf
Bill Nunn
Thomas Rosales Jr
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