| Jessica Walter | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born: | January 31, 1941 |
| Birth Hometown: | New York City |
| Died: | March 24, 2021 |
| Place of death: | New York City |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Years active: | 1960–2021 |
Jessica Walter (January 31, 1941 – March 24, 2021) was an American actress who appeared in over 170 film, television, and stage productions. She was best known for her role as Lucille Bluth on the sitcom Arrested Development (2003–06, 2013–19), and providing the voice of Malory Archer on the long-running FX animated series Archer (2009–21). She received various awards over her career including a Primetime Emmy Award for Amy Prentiss (1975). She also received two Golden Globe Award nominations and three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
Walter studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City and began her career on the Broadway stage, winning a 1963 Clarence Derwent Award for Outstanding Debut Performance. She made her film debut in the neo-noir drama Lilith (1964), and subsequently starred in the films Grand Prix and The Group (both 1966), which earned her critical acclaim. Her starring role opposite Clint Eastwood in Play Misty for Me (1971) won her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.
Walter was a regular presence on American television, playing the titular role in the short-lived police procedural Amy Prentiss, appearing in a recurring role on Trapper John, M.D., working as a series regular for the first half of season one of 90210, and providing the voice of Fran Sinclair on the series Dinosaurs. Her role as scheming socialite Lucille Bluth in Arrested Development brought her renewed attention, and she contributed voiceover work to animated shows like Archer and Star vs. the Forces of Evil (2015–18).
Early life[]
Walter was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Esther and David Walter. Her father was a musician who was a member of the NBC Symphony Orchestra and the New York City Ballet Orchestra, and had attended New York City's High School of Performing Arts. Mrs. Walter came from a Jewish family, and her mother was an immigrant from the USSR. Walter's brother, Richard Walter, is a screenwriter.
Career[]
Walter began her acting career on stage, winning a Clarence Derwent Award in 1963 for Outstanding Debut Broadway Performance in Photo Finish by Peter Ustinov. She soon moved to television, and played Julie Muranoon on the television series, Love of Life. While appearing on Love of Life from 1962 to 1965, she also acted on many other popular television series, including Naked City, East Side/West Side, Ben Casey, Route 66, The Doctors and the Nurses, The Rogues, and The Defenders. Among those series is Walter's role as Lorna Richmond on "The Ordeal of Mrs. Snow" episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (April 14, 1964), and a supporting role as William Shatner's wife on the drama For the People (1965).
Walter appeared in the first episode of Flipper (September 1964), and in the episode "How Much for a Prince?" of CBS's drama The Reporter. In 1966, she appeared in "The White Knight" episode of The Fugitive.
Her earliest notable film role was in the movie Play Misty for Me (1971), in which she played a young woman with behavior consistent with borderline personality disorderwho becomes infatuated with and ultimately stalks a disc jockey. Walter received a Golden Globe Awards nomination for her performance in the Best Motion Picture Actress – Drama category and critical praise, with Roger Ebert describing Walter as demonstrating "unnerving effectiveness" in the role. Walter's other film credits from that era include Lilith (1964), Grand Prix (1966), The Group (1966), Bye Bye Braverman (1968), and Number One (1969). She was also in an episode of Mannix (starring Mike Connors), "Moving Target" in season 5.
In 1974, Walter co-starred in an episode of Columbo, "Mind Over Mayhem", had a recurring role on Trapper John, M.D. as Melanie McIntyre, Trapper John's former wife, and starred on the short-lived series Amy Prentiss, a spinoff of Ironside, for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award. In 1983, she had a role on the short-lived NBC primetime soap opera Bare Essence as Ava Marshall. Since then, she has worked most frequently in television and theater, though she did appear in some films including The Flamingo Kid (1984) and the film PCU (1994). She recorded a performance as the doll form of Chucky for the 1988 horror film Child's Play, but her lines were redubbed by Brad Dourif after negative test screenings which Tom Holland and Don Mancini attributed partially to Walter's performance; they claimed Walter was effectively frightening in the role but failed to convey the sense of black humor they envisioned the character to have and that her voice seemed out of place because the character was male. In the 1990s, she voiced Fran Sinclair on the ABC comedy Dinosaurs, and appeared on Just Shoot Me! as Eve Gallo, the mother of Maya and the ex-wife of magazine publisher Jack Gallo.
From 2003 to 2006, she appeared in a regular role as the scheming alcoholic socialite matriarch Lucille Bluth on Fox's critically acclaimed comedy series Arrested Development. In 2005, she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series for the role. Despite her convincing portrayal of Lucille, she states: "I'm nothing like Lucille. Nothing. My daughter will tell you. I'm really a very nice, boring person." Despite acclaim from critics, Arrested Development received low ratings and viewership on Fox, which cancelled the series in 2006. It was revived by Netflix for season four in 2013, where it gained huge popularity. Walter reprised her role for season five, premiering in 2018.
Walter played Tabitha Wilson on the first season of 90210, until the character was written off halfway through the season. She also guest-starred on the sitcom Rules of Engagement in the episode titled "Kids". She guest-starred in an episode of Law & Order: SVU in 2009, and appeared again later on as legal-aid lawyer Petra Gilmartin. From 2011 to 2012, she starred in the TV Land sitcom Retired at 35 alongside her Bye Bye Braverman co-star George Segal.
Walter starred as Evangeline Harcourt in the Broadway revival of Anything Goes, which began previews in March 2011 and officially opened on April 7, 2011.
Walter voiced spymaster Malory Archer on the FX animated series Archer. Walter mentioned that her performance in Arrested Development was explicitly referenced when auditions for the part of Malory were sought.
She was at the center of a controversy which erupted in May 2018 over harassment she had received from Arrested Development co-star Jeffrey Tambor. During a cast interview with the New York Times, Walter was asked about an on-set incident which Tambor had alluded to several months before. Walter teared up and stated that "[i]n like almost 60 years of working, I've never had anybody yell at me like that on a set. And it's hard to deal with, but I'm over it now", while also noting that Tambor had apologized and had not done anything sexually inappropriate, and that she would work with him again. In the same interview, Walter's co-stars Jason Bateman, Tony Hale, and David Cross were criticized in multiple outlets for appearing to excuse Tambor's behavior without acknowledging Walter's experience. Within days all three men had issued apologies to Walter.
Personal life[]
Walter was married to Ross Bowman, a former Broadway stage manager and television director, from 1966 to 1978. With him, she had a daughter, Brooke Bowman, who was born in 1972 and was an executive for 21st Century Fox.
She later married actor Ron Leibman in 1983 and they remained married until his death in 2019. They appeared together in Neil Simon's play Rumors, and portrayed husband and wife in the film Dummy (2003) and on Law & Order (in the episode "House Counsel"). Leibman joined the cast of Archer, voicing her character's new husband. She described herself as not religious but "very Jewish in my heart".
Death[]
Walter died in her sleep at her home in Manhattan on March 24, 2021. No cause of death was given. She was 80 years old.