Another year, another dead Soap star. However unlike Robert Mandan, who played Chester Tate in the classic, ground-breaking sitcom, Katherine Helmond had no issues getting an obituary.
Helmond started her career off as a stage actress – receiving a Tony nomination in 1973 – and didn’t really develop a presence on TV or film until the mid-1970s. But as the ditzy-yet-steely family matriarch Jessica Tate on Soap she became a true star, winning four back-to-back Emmy nominations. She spent the rest of her career in eccentric motherly roles, taking the oversexed grandmother role in Who’s The Boss (which was played by Honor Blackman in the UK adaptation) and as Ray’s mother-in-law in Everybody Loves Raymond. Ranga theme team We Are Not Jessica Chastain get off the mark with this hit.
Katherine Helmond
July 5, 1929 – February 23, 2019
Died aged 89 (unique hit)