Fans of A Christmas Story and Close Encounters of the Third Kind will be devastated to learn that star Melinda Dillon has died. She was 83-years-old.
As shared via THR, her death was confirmed to have happened on January 9. As further shared via GFR, they noted that “the actor requested to be cremated and her ashes spread in the Pacific Ocean. No funeral has been planned.”
Peter Billingsley, who played Ralphie in A Christmas Story, honored Dillon in a post on Instagram:
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This is certainly disappointing news. Melinda Dillon had built up an incredible filmography throughout her career. Although she retired in 2007, many of her other projects included The Muppet Movie, Songwriter, Sioux City, How to Make an American Quilt, and Reign Over Me.
Her career also included television work. She made appearances in such television shows as The Jeffersons, Picket Fences, and Heartland. Of course, having worked with directors like Steven Spielberg and Bob Clark are no doubt highlights of her career.
Melinda Dillon was born on October 13, 1939, in Hope, Arkansas. It wasn’t until she performed in a skit as a replacement for Barbara Harris that her acting career began. She famously spent time in a psychiatric hospital after her performance in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? alongside Uta Hagen, Arthur Hill, and George Grizzard.
She’ll perhaps always be most fondly remembered for her performances in A Christmas Story and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, however. Her character in A Christmas Story, alongside Darren McGavin’s Old Man, has become one of the most beloved Christmas movie characters in pop culture history. Similarly, her role as Jillian Guiler from Close Encounters of the Third Kind has become a highlight for fans of the science-fiction spectacle. Funnily enough, she was cast in that particular film only three days before shooting began.
There’s no doubt that her beloved contributions to cinema will be remembered by moviegoers and audiences everywhere.