Melinda Dillon Kids: Meet Richard Libertini Jr. – Melinda Dillon is a two-time Academy Award nominee, best known for the films “A Christmas Story” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

A founding member of the Second City improv troupe, Melinda Dillon received a Tony Award nomination for her supporting role as the vulnerable Honey in the original Broadway production of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”

She received an Academy Award nomination for one of her most famous roles, that of a mother searching for her child abducted by aliens in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977).

Who is Melinda Dillon?

Melinda Ruth Dillon, born October 13, 1939 and died January 9, 2023, was an American actress. She received a Tony Award nomination in 1963 for her Broadway debut in the original production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Jillian Guiler in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). nominated) and Teresa Perrone in Absence of Malice (1981).

She is known for her role as Mother Parker in the Christmas classic A Christmas Story (1983). Her other film roles include Bound for Glory (1976), FIST (1978), Harry and the Hendersons (1987), The Prince of Tides (1991) and Magnolia (1999), for which she was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Melinda Rose Dillon began her career at the Goodman Theater in Chicago, Illinois, and became a founding member of the popular improv company Second City. She made her Broadway debut playing Honey in the original production of Edward Albee’s classic Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? She won a New York Drama Critics Award and received a Tony nomination.

She became a familiar face to audiences of the time with a series of television appearances on popular shows such as “Bonanza” (NBC, 1959-1973) and “The Jeffersons” (CBS, 1975-1985), while making his film. debut in “April Fools” (1969), where she played an eccentric neighbor of Catherine Deneuve.

In 1959, she starred in The Cry of Jazz, an influential short film about jazz music and black culture. Dillon’s first feature film was “April Fool’s Day” in 1969. She also worked in television, including a guest role in 1969 in an episode of the hit television series “Bonanza” called “The Spell of a lawyer is not happy” (Season 11). . She co-starred with David Carradine in the 1976 Woody Guthrie biopic Bound for Glory and was nominated for a Golden Globe nomination for Best Female Actress Debut for her role as Memphis Sue.

The following year, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as a mother whose child is abducted by aliens in Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Four years later, Dillon was again nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of a suicidal teacher in Absence of Malice (1981), in which she again worked with Newman.

Although her professional performances declined in subsequent years, the actress still managed to create interesting characters, including supporting roles in the gay romance “Adam & Steve” (2005), the 9/11 drama ” Reign Over Me” (2007) and the bizarre apocalyptic romantic comedy “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World” (2012).

Melinda Dillon dude

Melinda Dillon was 83 years old when she died on January 9, 2023.

Does Melinda Dillon have children?

Yes, Melinda Dillon is said to have a son named Richard Libertini Jr., whom she had with her ex-husband Richard Libertini, an American stage, film and television actor known for his character roles and his ability to speak with many accents, but nothing is known about the young man as his life seems very private away from the media.