Melinda Dillon

Dillon died at the age of 83 on Jan. 9. According to Variety, her death was reported by the Neptune Society. Oscar and Tony-nominated actor Dillon was known for ...

[ The Hollywood Reporter. Dillon was born on Oct. Dillon’s first feature film was “The April Fools” in 1969. [Variety ](https://variety.com/2023/film/news/melinda-dillon-dead-a-christmas-story-1235512472/)reported. [Variety.](https://variety.com/2023/film/news/melinda-dillon-dead-a-christmas-story-1235512472/) [Variety](https://variety.com/2023/film/news/melinda-dillon-dead-a-christmas-story-1235512472/).

Melinda Dillon was a two-time Oscar nominee, and she also received a Tony nomination for her performance in Broadway's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

[in October](https://people.com/movies/a-christmas-story-christmas-first-look-peter-billingsley-ralphie-parker-exclusive/). He was such a gifted actor and a great person and such a mentor to me in [the shooting of the first film](https://people.com/movies/zack-ward-a-christmas-story-35th-anniversary/), and was kind of like having [another] dad." [A Christmas Story's 2022 sequel](https://people.com/movies/why-peter-billingsley-waited-almost-40-years-to-make-a-christmas-story-sequel-exclusive/), her son in the iconic holiday film, [Peter Billingsley](https://people.com/movies/a-christmas-story-star-peter-billingsley-says-prop-man-on-film-gave-him-real-chewing-tobacco/), told PEOPLE at the time that the sequel was very much a tribute to the original cast, including Dillon's husband in the movie, [Darren McGavin](https://people.com/celebrity/veteran-actor-darren-mcgavin-dies-at-83/), who died in 2006 at age 83. [Close Encounters of the Third Kind](https://people.com/post/close-encounters-third-kind-30th-anniversary-ultimate-edition/), which earned her the first of two Oscar nominations, with the second coming for her role in 1981's [Absence of Malice](https://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-absence-of-malice-vol-16-no-25/). [focusing more on television and film roles](https://people.com/movies/a-christmas-story-cast-where-are-they-now/), including the 1969 comedy The April Fools, she was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in the 1976 Woody Guthrie biopic [Bound for Glory](https://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-bound-for-glory-vol-13-no-26/). [A Christmas Story](https://people.com/movies/a-christmas-story-sequel-teaser-trailer-peter-billingsley-hbo-max/), the actress began her career performing in the original 1962 production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which earned her a [Tony Award nomination](https://www.tonyawards.com/nominees/).

Two-time Oscar nominee, for 'Close Encounters' and 'Absence of Malice,' got her start at Goodman School and Second City.

“It was grand,” she said in “The Second City,” a company history by Sheldon Patinkin. “Wanting to attract the attention of the beautiful Italian actor Richard Libertini, who was sitting nearby, I said, ‘Nobody loves me.’ He heard me and said, ‘Nobody loves me either.’ We smiled, and I left. In Patinkin’s book, she recalled the day she met Libertini, another Second City actor. Four years later, she was nominated for “Absence of Malice” (1981), in which her character was betrayed by an unscrupulous reporter. Dillon performed with the company in the early 1960s. Of her many film and TV roles, the best known was the long-suffering mother of Ralphie Parker, the boy yearning for an air rifle from Santa in the holiday perennial “A Christmas Story” (1983).

Melinda Dillion, the two-time-Oscar nominee, played Ralphie's mom in “A Christmas Story” and earned a Tony nomination.

In 1981 she played Teresa Perrone in the Sydney Pollack-directed thriller [“Absence of Malice” and received a nomination Academy Award nomination](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1982/A?qt-honorees=1) for Best Supporting Actress. Still, generations of viewers will remember the actor best for her role as Mrs. Julie Newmar.”

Spielberg came calling after that for Close Encounters, where Dillon earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for playing single mother Jillian Guiler ...

Melinda Dillon has died. An Oscar and Tony-nominated actress whose most enduring part, for many audiences, was as doting (but soap-wielding) mom Mrs. Parker ...

She slowed down in the 2000s before ultimately retiring; her final few roles include an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2005, and then a small part in 2007 Adam Sandler drama Reign Over Me. (The joy she brings to the moment when Mother Parker encourages her reluctant youngest son to eat from his plate like “a little piggy” is an especial highlight.) There are many reasons A Christmas Story has remained in near-permanent holiday rotation for the last 40 years; the authenticity and delight Dillon brought to the part is undeniably one of them. Notable collaborators from the period include Hal Ashby, who cast her in his Woodie Guthrie biopic Bound For Glory, and Sydney Pollack, who filmed her alongside Paul Newman and Sally Field in 1981's Absence Of Malice. Moving to New York, she quickly landed in the limelight when she was cast in the role of young wife Honey in the original Broadway production of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf. (Other high-profile roles from the era included Steven Spielberg’s [Close Encounters Of The Third Kind](https://www.avclub.com/film/reviews/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-1977), [Absence Of Malice](https://www.avclub.com/film/reviews/absence-of-malice-1981), [Harry And The Hendersons](https://www.avclub.com/film/reviews/harry-and-the-hendersons-1987), and more.) [Per THR](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/melinda-dillon-dead-close-encounters-christmas-story-1235317335/), Dillon’s death actually happened last month, on January 9, 2023, with [web site Giant Freakin Robot confirming her death](https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/melinda-dillon.html) after contacting family members today. Dillon ultimately left the part (opposite Uta Hagen, Arthur Hill, and George Grizzard) after just nine months—citing the intensity of the material, the grueling schedule, and the sudden pressures of stardom for a subsequent stay in a psychiatric hospital—but not before picking up a Tony nomination for Best Performance By A Featured Actress.

Actress Melinda Dillon, a two-time Oscar nominee best known for the movies "A Christmas Story" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," has died, ...

And in “Absence of Malice,” she plays Paul Newman’s friend tormented by a reporter’s coverage of her abortion. May she rest in peace,” [Lou Diamond Phillips](https://twitter.com/LouDPhillips/status/1621690524984827909) wrote: “So very, very sad to hear of the passing of Melinda Dillon. In Steven Spielberg’s “Close Encounters,” she searches for her little boy after aliens abduct him. It was released in 1983 and went on to find an annual holiday audience on video and TV. No cause of death was given.

Actress Melinda Dillon, a two-time Oscar nominee best known for the movies "A Christmas Story" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," has died, ...

[World](https://www.ctvnews.ca/world) [China says it strongly opposes U.S. [Canada](https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada) [Defence minister says Canada supports U.S. . [MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS](https://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment) Eyes were locked on the skies Saturday as a suspected Chinese spy balloon passed over the U.S. [Barbra Streisand](https://twitter.com/BarbraStreisand/status/1621695777373315072) wrote. Canadians will continue to bundle up in the country's east this weekend as a recent bout of extreme cold persists in much of Quebec and the Atlantic provinces. The U.S. [Lou Diamond Phillips](https://twitter.com/LouDPhillips/status/1621690524984827909) wrote: "So very, very sad to hear of the passing of Melinda Dillon. on Broadway in the 1960s. And in "Absence of Malice," she plays Paul Newman's friend tormented by a reporter's coverage of her abortion. It was released in 1983 and went on to find an annual holiday audience on video and TV. No cause of death was given.

Dillon is celebrated for her role as Jillian Guiler in Steven Spielberg's “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977), for which she earned an Oscar ...

She also acted in “Paul Sill’s Story Theater” and “You Know I Can’t Hear You When the Water’s Running.” Her most recent appearances were in “Heartland” in 2007, and before that in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Magnolia” (1999) as Rose Gator. Dillon is celebrated for her role as Jillian Guiler in Steven Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977), for which she earned an Oscar nomination for supporting actress.