Heckart, Eileen

▪ 2002

      American actress (b. March 29, 1919, Columbus, Ohio—d. Dec. 31, 2001, Norwalk, Conn.), took advantage of her lanky stature, smoky voice, and winning smile to enjoy a long career on the stage, in film, and on television, often playing eccentric characters. Besides her Oscar-winning role as an overbearing mother in Butterflies Are Free (1972)—a role she also had filled on Broadway (1969)—and her Emmy Award-winning roles in Save Me a Place at Forest Lawn (1966) and an episode of Love & War (1994), she was especially remembered for performances on Broadway in Picnic (1953), Barefoot in the Park (1965), and The Waverly Gallery (2000) and on television as Mary Richards's Aunt Flo on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1975 and 1976). Heckart was honoured with a special Tony Award in 2000 for her body of theatre work.

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