Cloris Leachman was the total package: she could act, sing, dance, make you laugh and cry all in the same show. If there were any doubts she had the hardware to prove it, winning both an Oscar as well as 7 Emmys.

Leachman’s career spanned eightdecades, from 1947 to 2021. She was the kind of performer that made everyone around her better, which is why legends like Mary Tyler Moore and MelBrooks sought her out. Like many people in my generation, I first remember her as Frau Blücher in Young Frankenstein. Later we would watch reruns of The Mary Tyler Moore Show or Rhoda and Leachman would make us laugh harder than anyone else on the show.

Valerie Harper; Mary Tyler Moore; Cloris Leachman

Leachman as Frau Blücher in Young Frankenstein

She worked steadily throughout the decades, and then had a career renaissance when…