Marion Ramsey, best known for playing soft-spoken Officer Laverne Hooks in the “Police Academy” franchise, died on Thursday in her Los Angeles home, according to her management company at Roger Paul Inc.
Ramsey was 73. Her cause of death was unknown.
Ramsey was also a singer and Broadway veteran who appeared in the hit 1978 Broadway show “Eubie!”
Marion Ramsey was born in 1947 in Philadelphia and launched her stage career performing in both the original Broadway production of “Hello, Dolly!” and ensuing tour productions.
Ramsey would go on to star opposite Bette Davis in the 1974 musical “Miss Moffat,” which flopped at the box office. But Ramsey bounced back in “Ebie!” a biographical musical that centered on jazz pianist Eubie Blake and starred Gregory and Maurice Hines.
Ramsey would venture into television and film and made a 1976 guest appearance on sitcom “The Jeffersons,” and became a series regular that same year on the Bill Cosby-hosted sketch comedy series “Cos.”
Ramsey’s signature breakout role would come with 1984’s “Police Academy” in which she played the soft-spoken Officer Laverne Hooks. Ramsey was then featured in five of the six sequels that followed.
The 1984-1994 New Line franchise helped launch the careers of several stars including Steve Guttenberg and Kim Cattrall. The franchise also spawned a short-lived animated series and a live-action series that ran for 26 episodes in 1997.
Ramsey is survived by her three brothers.
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