Actress Cloris Leachman dead at age 94

LOS ANGELES (NewsNation Now) — American actress Cloris Leachman, who won eight Emmys for her work on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and other television programs as well as an Academy Award for “The Last Picture Show,” died on Wednesday at the age of 94, her representatives said.

Leachman’s publicist said in a statement that the actress died of natural causes at her home in Encinitas, California.

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – SEPTEMBER 09: Actress Cloris Leachman attends The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences Celebrates 40th Anniversary Of “Young Frankenstein” With Mel Brooks at AMPAS Samuel Goldwyn Theater on September 9, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Valerie Macon/Getty Images)
HOLLYWOOD, CA – JUNE 06: Actress Cloris Leachman speaks onstage during the 41st AFI Life Achievement Award Honoring Mel Brooks at Dolby Theatre on June 6, 2013 in Hollywood, California. Special Broadcast will air Saturday, June 15 at 9:00 P.M. ET/PT on TNT and Wednesday, July 24 on TCM as part of an All-Night Tribute to Brooks. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES – SEPTEMBER 14: Actress Cloris Leachman poses with her Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series Award (Ida on “Malcolm In The Middle”) backstage during the 2002 Creative Arts Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on September 14, 2002 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Actors (L-R) Raquel Welch, Gene Hackman and Cloris Leachman (holding her Best Supporting Actress Oscar) at the 44th Academy Awards in Hollywood, CA, April 17th 1972. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Cloris Leachman arrives at the 2016 American Film Institute Life Achievement Awards Honoring John Williams, in Hollywood, California, on June 9, 2016. / AFP / ANGELA WEISS (Photo credit should read ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
HOLLYWOOD, CA – APRIL 20: Cloris Leachman attends the premiere of Starz’s “American Gods” at the ArcLight Cinemas Cinerama Dome on April 20, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 03: Actor Cloris Leachman attends Ed Asner’s 90th Birthday Party and Celebrity Roast at The Roosevelt Hotel on November 03, 2019 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Michael Tullberg/Getty Images)
Cast members from the television series ‘The Facts of Life’ stand around a piano, circa 1987. (L-R front) Kim Fields, MacKenzie Astin and Cloris Leachman. (L-R rear) Lisa Welchel, Nancy McKeon and Mindy Cohn. (Photo by NBC Television/Courtesy of Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA – JANUARY 08: Actress Cloris Leachman arrives at the FOX All-Star Party at the Langham Huntington Hotel on January 8, 2013 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
HOLLYWOOD, CA – JULY 23: Actress Cloris Leachman poses at the opening night of Carol Channing’s show ‘Razzle Dazzle’ held at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Centre Theatre on July 23, 2004 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
Cloris Leachman holds her Emmy which she won for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her appearance on “Malcolm in the Middle” at the 54th Annual Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, 22 September 2002. AFP PHOTO/Lee CELANO (Photo by LEE CELANO / AFP) (Photo credit should read LEE CELANO/AFP via Getty Images)

“It’s been my privilege to work with Cloris Leachman, one of the most fearless actresses of our time.
There was no one like Cloris. With a single look she had the ability to break your heart or make you laugh till the tears ran down your face. You never knew what Cloris was going to say or do and that unpredictable quality was part of her unparalleled magic.
She loved her children and her grandchildren ferociously. A lifelong vegetarian, she was a passionate advocate for animal rights. The family requests that any donations in her name be made to PETA or Last Chance for Animals.”
Leachman’s manager Juliet Green in a statement to NewsNation

Leachman, who appeared in three of Mel Brooks’ comic movies, kept acting regularly well into her 90s. She was a contestant on “Dancing With the Stars” at age 82.

She was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1926. After graduating from Northwestern University she competed in the 1946 Miss America pageant before launching her acting career.

Leachman is survived by three sons and a daughter. She was preceded in death by her son Bryan in 1986.

Reuters and NewsNation affiliate WHO-TV contributed to this report.