Cloris Leachman: Phyllis Sutherland Lindstrom
Cloris Leachman's long and distinguished career began when she was around seven years old, and took off in the late 1940's when she was in high school. She was eyed by a faculty member at Northwestern University in one of many local theater productions she acted in, and was subsequently invited to study drama there. She captured the Miss Chicago prize, and became the runner-up for Miss America 1946. The first of her multiple awards for acting came in 1951, when she won the Theatre World Award.
Ms. Leachman was born on April 30, 1926, in Des Moines, Iowa. She relocated to New York around 1947, then headed for Hollywood in the early 50's. She married top-flight director/producer George Englund in 1959; they divorced in 1979. Their eldest son, Bryan Englund (1956-1986) was an accomplished actor, and held roles in several of his elder's productions. Mother and son both appeared in Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter (1984), which George Englund also directed. Together they had four other children, Morgan, Adam, George Jr., and Dinah Englund. The latter three are working actors.
Cloris worked steadily through the 1950's and 60's in television, and was cast in multiple guest spots on such series as Perry Mason, The Untouchables, Route 66, Gunsmoke, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. She played the mother on Lassie in the 1957-58 season. She also made a single appearance on The Twilight Zone in 1961, playing the hysterical mother of a little boy (played by Bill Mumy) with superpsychic powers in the episode "It's a Good Life". In 1971, she appeared in "The Last Picture Show" playing Ruth Popper, a sickly, middle-aged woman who falls in love with an eighteen-year-old kid named Sonny Crawford (played by Timothy Bottoms). The miraculous portrayal won her both an Oscar and 1971 Best Supporting Actress Award from the National Board of Review. After "Picture Show" and a couple years on the MTM Show, everyone was lining up to hire the exquisitely talented Ms. Leachman, who'd proven herself to be one of the most natural actors in showbiz.
Cloris Leachman's fame in the world of television soared when she was cast in the role of Phyllis Lindstrom on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1970. She opened up new and previously unexplored comedic vistas with the character of self-absorbed Phyllis, dame of elusive dermatologist Lars Lindstrom. According to MTM, Cloris' inclusion in the cast was a key factor in the success of the show. Her screen test for Jim Brooks and Allan Burns was reportedly "unnecessary"; her impeccable sense of comedic timing and reaction, her gestures, gyrations, and fluidity of speech made for a number of wonderful sequences in Mary's apartment and in the WJM Newsroom. She garnered two Emmys for her work on the series (the first in 1974 for Outstanding Single Performance in Comedy for the episode "The Lars Affair", and a second in 1975 for the last episode she appeared in, "Phyllis Whips Inflation".) No one deserved the awards more.
In 1975, the MTM producers spun Cloris Leachman off MTMS onto her own series, Phyllis, which kept her busy until 1977 and for which she won a Golden Globe in 1976. She held a continuous role on The Facts of Life (1986-88), and has since appeared in numerous TV series as special guest star, plus many made-for-TV movies ("The Woman Who Willed a Miracle" is one of her best, and she earned a 1984 Daytime Emmy for her performance). 1993 brought Cloris a unique opportunity to reprise the role of Granny in "The Beverly Hillbillies" originally played by Irene Ryan, and she appeared in the feature film version of the original TV series. In 1994 she toured on the stage as Grandma Moses (Cloris and her sister, Claiborne, appeared in theater productions together periodically.) In 1996, the then seventy-year-old actress posed for the cover of "Alternative Medicine" wearing only body-painted fruits and vegetables. Her reply to why she participated in the creative venture? "What the hell?!" In 1998 she won an Emmy for a guest appearance on "Promised Land". Ms. Leachman's recent feature film credits include "Music from the Heart" (1999), "The Amati Girls" (2000) and "Hanging Up" (2000). In 1999, she played the grandmother on the short-lived summer replacement TV series Thanks. Her recent work (2004) has included another Oscar-caliber performance as Tea Leoni's mother in the James L. Brooks feature film "Spanglish," co-starring Adam Sandler. At age 79, she remains extremely youthful and active, and she is often seen walking her dogs in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles. She's always got her cell phone at the ready, and it's always ringing.
The webmaster of this site met Cloris Leachman in Santa Monica in January, 2001. He reports that she's an extremely outgoing, energetic, vivacious person, and yes, she still looks great. She loves to sing and dance...and has a lot of interesting stories to share. She'll probably work forever. Let's hope so.
View Cloris Leachman Photo Gallery
The Last Picture Show, 1971
"The Twilight Zone", 1961
Cloris Leachman: The Actor's Actress
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