Actress Melinda Dillon, two-time Oscar nominee for films such as Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Sydney Pollack’s Right to Know, has died at the age of 83.
Melinda Dillonthe two-time Oscar-nominated actress, and known for films A Christmas story e Close encounters of the third kind, she’s dead. A cremation service in Long Beach, California reported the news.
As reported by CNN Entertainment, which cites Neptune Society, the cremation service, Melinda Dillon passed away on January 9, but the news of her death was only released by the family now. However, the cause of her death has not been disclosed.
During her career, the actress starred in A Christmas Story, directed by Bob Clark, in 1983. Prior to taking part, Dillon had earned two Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress for Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) by Steven Spielberg and, subsequently, by Sydney Pollack for the Chronicle (1981).
The actress has also appeared in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Judging Amy, The Jeffersons and The Twilight Zone.
Among those who wanted to remember Melinda Dillon, Barbra Streisand who wrote: “Melinda Dillon was a great actress, there was a wonderful delicacy about her. She was a delight of her directing her in Prince of Tides. May he rest in peace“.
Lou Diamond Phillips recalled the actress expressing her pain at the huge loss: “It’s very, very sad to hear of the passing of Melinda Dillon. She played my adoptive mother in Sioux City, my second directorial effort. What a light and blessing. So casual in her work that it was easy to overlook how brilliant she was. I feel so lucky to have known her. RIP.“
