HarryCarter Posted July 30, 2013 Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 The great Emmy winning and Oscar nominated Eileen Brennan has died at the age of 80. She won her Emmy for the Bob and Madelyn produced "Private Benjamin." Eileen Brennan, the veteran actress perhaps best known for her role as the goodhearted Texas waitress in Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show, has died. She was 80.Brennan died early Sunday at her home in Burbank of bladder cancer, her publicist told The Hollywood Reporter. Brennan also received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress playing tough drill captain Doreen Lewis opposite Goldie Hawn in the fish-out-of-water comedy Private Benjamin (1980). She reprised the role in the CBS series that starred Lorna Patterson in the title role and won an Emmy Award, one of her seven career nominations. Brennan also memorably appeared as brothel madam Billie, a confidant of con man Paul Newman, in the Oscar best-picture winner The Sting (1973); as Peter Falk’s long-suffering secretary Tess in the Agatha Christie classic spoof Murder by Death (1976), written by Neil Simon; and as Mrs. Peacock in Clue (1985). She often played world-weary, sympathetic characters yet demonstrated a real comic flair throughout her career. Her other films include three more for Bogdanovich: Daisy Miller (1974), At Long Last Love (1975) and Texasville (1990); Simon’s Cheap Detective (1978), the follow-up to Murder by Death; the road movie Scarecrow (1973), opposite Al Pacino and Gene Hackman; The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking (1988); Stella (1990) with Bette Midler; FM (1978); Jeepers Creepers (2001); and Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005). Early in her career, the raven-haired, blue-eyed star, born in Los Angeles, showed her comic chops as a regular on the dafty Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In in the late 1960s and in a memorable guest stint on All in the Family in which she’s trapped in an elevator with Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor), a snooty black man (Roscoe Lee Browne), a Puerto Rican janitor (Hector Elizondo) and his pregnant wife (Serafina Mendoza). In October 1982, Brennan had just finished dining with Hawn in Venice, Calif., when she stepped into the path of an oncoming car. She suffered severe injuries to her legs and jaw, had an eyeball wrenched from its socket and broke multiple bones in her face. That led to an addiction to prescription pain pills, followed by a dependence on antidepressants and antianxiety medication. She made her return with a role in the ABC comedy Off the Rack in January 1984, still without feeling on the left side of her face and a steel plate in her left leg, then a few months later entered the Betty Ford Center for six weeks of treatment. “It was my only hope,” she told People magazine in 1985. “I had reached the stage where I was taking anything I could get my hands on.” She also was a breast-cancer survivor. In Bogdanovich’s black-and-white 1971 classic The Last Picture Show, Brennan plays Genevieve, a waitress working in a cafe in a dusty Texas town who lends an ear to sensitive high-schooler Timothy Bottoms. She inherits the place when owner Sam (Oscar winner Ben Johnson) dies. Bogdanovich, who earned an Oscar nomination for the film, had seen Brennan on an off-Broadway production in Little Mary Sunshine in the 1960s and immediately hired her for the drama -- marking the start of a great actress-director relationship. Brennan appeared in the original 1964 production of the musical Hello, Dolly! as Irene Molloy opposite Carol Channing. She earned her other Emmy noms for guest-starring stints on Taxi, Newhart, thirtysomething and Will & Grace, the latter as a chain-smoking acting coach and former Hollywood star. She was a regular on such series as 13 Queens Boulevard, A New Kind of Family, Blossom and The All-New Dennis the Menace. Her other stage credits in the 1960s include playing Annie Sullivan in a touring production of The Miracle Worker and Anna in The King and I (1963). An Irish-American, Brennan was the daughter of Regina “Jeanne” Menehan, a silent film actress. Brennan was married to British-born poet-photographer David Lampson from 1968 until their divorce in 1975. Survivors include her sons Sam and Patrick (an actor in Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -- Part 2), daughter-in-law Jessica (a documentary writer-producer), sister Kate and grandchildren Liam and Maggie. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/actress-eileen-brennan-dies-595503 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted July 30, 2013 Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 Oh, no! :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted July 30, 2013 Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 She was just a terrific actress. When she was confined to a wheelchair for a while, I forget what illness she had, there was talk of her reprising her acting with a remake of The Big Street. And I last remember her in a guest shot on Will and Grace as an acting teacher, but she was walking again by that time, nothing ever came of the movie remake. LOVED her! She was also the only good thing about Private Benjamin as the sadistic officer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted July 30, 2013 Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 She was just a terrific actress. When she was confined to a wheelchair for a while, I forget what illness she had, there was talk of her reprising her acting with a remake of The Big Street. And I last remember her in a guest shot on Will and Grace as an acting teacher, but she was walking again by that time, nothing ever came of the movie remake. LOVED her! She was also the only good thing about Private Benjamin as the sadistic officer. She was in a wheelchair after being hit by a car. I love her in Murder By Death and Clue, but her first scene in Private Benjamin kills me every time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyImHome Posted July 30, 2013 Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 Wasn't she also in the short-lived tv-series, Private Benjamin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted July 30, 2013 Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqqGLzUwRDg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharon Posted July 30, 2013 Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 I rented "Private Benjamin" a few months ago and it was as funny as I remembered. R.I.P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mot Morenzi Posted July 31, 2013 Report Share Posted July 31, 2013 So so sad. I loved her in everything I've seen her in. Her "Will & Grace" episodes were series highlights in my opinion. She delivered a great Grace insult in one show: "You remind me of Lucille Ball...I HATED Lucille Ball!" Funny lady. Watching Clue tonight in memorium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted July 31, 2013 Report Share Posted July 31, 2013 She was a bright spot in "At Long Last Love" one of the hugest bombs of all time, displaying a very pleasant but low-register singing voice, most notably in "Most Gentlemen Don't Like Love". I didn't know until later that she is on the original cast album of "Hello Dolly" as an operatic soprano singing "Ribbons Down my back" among others. What happened to her voice in those 10-12 years? Shades of Wildcat to Mame. As far as I know "ALLL" hasn't been released on video. I was one of the few who saw it in a theater. When it made it's TV debut, it was relegated to the 90-minute ABC Late Night Movie and it was a completely different version with different songs, eliminating my favorites "Most Gentlemen"...and "Friendship". ALLL was Peter Bogdonovich's homage to Cole Porter and had the distinction of having the actors sing on camera rather than lip to a pre-recording. The story was just an excuse to get as many Porter songs into the movie as possible. Unfortunately, he cast non-singer Burt Reynolds, then at the height of his wise-guy camera-winking movie career, and girl friend Cybill Shepherd, a good singer, but without a flare for the type of comedy this movie needed, something she supposedly developed later (I was never into "Moonlighting" or "Cybill"). Also Madelaine Kahn who did have the right flare. After Last Picture Show, What's Up Doc and Paper Moon, Bogdonovich was given free reign, but ALLL stopped that. It's not THAT bad but a definite misfire. Agree that Brennan stole "Private Benjamin". A shame the accident put such a damper on her career. By the way, Bob and Madelyn had a hand in the TV version and were not thrilled about it after meeting its star---don't remember who that was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarryCarter Posted July 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2013 At Long Last Love actually just received a Blu Ray (!) release. It's slightly edited from its original release version and supposedly superior to the theatrical version. I've never actually seen the film. The FOX Movie Channel was showing the movie quite frequently a couple years ago and I kept wanting to watch it, but never got around to it. They haven't aired it recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted July 31, 2013 Report Share Posted July 31, 2013 I rented "Private Benjamin" a few months ago and it was as funny as I remembered. R.I.P. You mean THE MOVIE, not the tv show huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted July 31, 2013 Report Share Posted July 31, 2013 Agree that Brennan stole "Private Benjamin". A shame the accident put such a damper on her career. By the way, Bob and Madelyn had a hand in the TV version and were not thrilled about it after meeting its star---don't remember who that was. Lorna Patterson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C L A U D E Posted July 31, 2013 Report Share Posted July 31, 2013 She was a bright spot in "At Long Last Love" one of the hugest bombs of all time, displaying a very pleasant but low-register singing voice, most notably in "Most Gentlemen Don't Like Love". I didn't know until later that she is on the original cast album of "Hello Dolly" as an operatic soprano singing "Ribbons Down my back" among others. What happened to her voice in those 10-12 years? Shades of Wildcat to Mame. As far as I know "ALLL" hasn't been released on video. I was one of the few who saw it in a theater. When it made it's TV debut, it was relegated to the 90-minute ABC Late Night Movie and it was a completely different version with different songs, eliminating my favorites "Most Gentlemen"...and "Friendship". ALLL was Peter Bogdonovich's homage to Cole Porter and had the distinction of having the actors sing on camera rather than lip to a pre-recording. The story was just an excuse to get as many Porter songs into the movie as possible. Unfortunately, he cast non-singer Burt Reynolds, then at the height of his wise-guy camera-winking movie career, and girl friend Cybill Shepherd, a good singer, but without a flare for the type of comedy this movie needed, something she supposedly developed later (I was never into "Moonlighting" or "Cybill"). Also Madelaine Kahn who did have the right flare. After Last Picture Show, What's Up Doc and Paper Moon, Bogdonovich was given free reign, but ALLL stopped that. It's not THAT bad but a definite misfire. Why do you say things like that, At Long Last Love was that year's Howard the Duck, or Hudson Hawke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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