Mary Pat Gleason, Prolific Character Actress With 100+ TV Roles, Dead at 70

Kimberly Roots
·2 min read

Mary Pat Gleason, a character actress with a huge list of credits and who most recently played Mom‘s Mary, has died. She was 70.

Per a post on Gleason’s official Facebook page, she passed away after a long illness from cancer.

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Though you may not have known Gleason’s name, it’s likely that her face is familiar: Her acting resume contains more than 100 television credits, usually for one-off-but-memorable roles on popular broadcast series in the past 40 years. She was Madame Oeuf, Saved By the Bell‘s French teacher. She was Lucille, the stern yet kindly dressing-room attendant who hugged a grieving Miranda in Sex and the City. She was Mrs. Butters, the no-nonsense elementary school teacher who dealt with Lynette and Susan’s kids in Desperate Housewives. She was Sally, the homeless woman who may or may not have known the president on NBC on Will & Grace.

Her list of TV appearances also includes roles on Quantum Leap, Highway to Heaven, Night Court, Blossom, ER, NCIS, Bones, Grey’s Anatomy, Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, How to Get Away With Murder, NCIS and The Blacklist.

In 2014, she started the recurring role of Mary, an Alcoholics Anonymous member, on CBS’ Mom. Gleason appeared on the comedy a number of times over the years, and her character was killed off in Season 7 when Mary died of a brain aneurysm during an AA meeting.

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