Contributor

Cloris Leachman

Actress

Cloris Leachman is an actress of stage, film and television. She has won eight Primetime Emmy Awards—more than any other female performer—and one Daytime Emmy Award. She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in the 1971 film The Last Picture Show. She is best known for playing the nosy, self-centered and manipulative landlady Phyllis Lindstrom on the 1970s TV series Mary Tyler Moore, and later on the spinoff series, Phyllis. She also appeared in three Mel Brooks films, including Young Frankenstein and High Anxiety. She has also appeared in the feature films American Cowslip, You Again, Inglourious Basterds, New York I Love You, The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure, The Fields and Expecting Mary. In recent years, she became very popular for her recurring role as Lois's ruthless mother on Malcolm in the Middle, and has appeared on The Office, HawthorRNe, Phineas and Ferb, and Love Takes Wings. Leachman was a contestant on of Dancing With The Stars in 2008, paired with Corky Ballas. At the age of 82, she is the oldest contestant to dance on the series. She currently stars in the new hit comedy Raising Hope, where she plays the wacky grandmother “Maw Maw” to the delight of audiences.

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