american actress Melinda Dillonremembered for her roles in Close encounters of the third kind AND absence of maliceamong other successes, the past is dead January 9 at 83 years oldalthough his family just reported it this Friday.

“Melinda Ruth Dillonaged 83, of Los Angeles, California, passed away on Monday, January 9, 2023,” reads the obituary posted on the website of cremation services company Neptune Society, which has posted a link where people can share “Dear memories and messages of support to the Dillon family.”

His relatives have not provided details of the cause of his death.

“Close encounters of the third kind It was the first film where I realized that romance comes first from understanding and trusting strangers. I don’t think I would have been able to hear it if it wasn’t for his performance. She will be missed,” wrote one of the many who fired her on that site.

Another lamented, “Melinda as Mother Parker in the movie a christmas story she was absolutely the perfect mother figure. Everyone knows who she is and she will never be forgotten. Thousands of hearts are broken by the news of her passing. My thoughts and prayers are with the family.”

Who was Melinda Dillon: cinema, theater and Oscar nominations

Melinda Dillon He was born on October 13, 1939 in Hope, Arkansas, United States. Her first steps in the artistic world were as an actress in the theaters, arriving to participate in the 1962 Broadway premiere of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. For her portrayal of her, she received the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.

After several television appearances, his film debut came in 1969 in the romantic comedy April fools.

His first big success was in film Close encounters of the third kindreleased in 1977 and directed by Steven Spielberg. In that movie, she gave birth to a mother whose son was and was abducted by aliens Academy Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actress.

Four years later, she was nominated again to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awardsagain for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in absence of malice (1981).

In 1983, he would bring to life another of his best-remembered characters: Mother Parker, in a christmas story.

His last big screen performance was in film hope lives in me (2007), with Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle. In the same year he makes his last appearances on television, more precisely in three episodes of the series Heartlands.