`WALTONS' TV GRANNY DEAD AT 87.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Ellen Corby Ellen Corby (June 3, 1911 – April 14, 1999) was an Academy Award-nominated American character actress. She is most widely remembered for the role of "Grandma Walton" on the television series The Waltons, for which she won three Emmy Awards. , who played the tart-tongued country grandmother on television's ``The Waltons'' and was an Oscar nominee for the 1948 film ``I Remember Mama,'' has died. She was 87. Corby died Wednesday at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital after an extended illness, hospital spokeswoman Liz Dagucon said Friday. Corby, who was born in Racine, Wis., as Ellen Hansen, spent 12 years as a script assistant before turning to acting. After her debut in the 1946 film ``Dark Corner'' she worked steadily as a character actor, often playing a fussy spinster SPINSTER. An addition given, in legal writings, to a woman who never was married. Lovel. on Wills, 269. or busybody bus·y·bod·y n. pl. bus·y·bod·ies A person who meddles or pries into the affairs of others. busybody Noun pl -bodies a meddlesome, prying, or officious person . She appeared in more than 100 movies, including ``Shane'' (1953), ``Sabrina'' (1954) and ``Vertigo'' (1958). Her performance as the lovelorn aunt in ``I Remember Mama,'' starring Irene Dunne, earned her the Academy Award bid. Corby made guest appearances on many TV Westerns, including ``The Virginian,'' ``The Rifleman'' and ``Wagon Train.'' She received a Golden Boot Golden Boot An inducement, using maximum incentives and financial benefits, for an older worker to take "voluntary" early retirement. Notes: A golden boot is usually offered by companies planning on downsizing or hiring new employees. award from the Motion Picture & Television Fund in 1989 along with Robert Duvall, Johnny Cash and Robert Fuller. As Esther ``Grandma'' Walton on the popular CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. television show, Corby created her best-known role. Grandma Walton was part of a close-knit Virginia family in the drama from writer Earl Hamner Jr., who based it on memories of his childhood. A stroke in 1977 forced Corby to curtail her work on the series. She was seen only occasionally and made her last appearance on ``The Waltons'' series in 1979, although she was part of the 1997 TV special ``A Waltons Easter.'' CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO CORBY |
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