Highlights
- Actress Phyllis Thaxter, who played Ma Kent in the 1978 superhero film Superman, has died. She was 90.
- Thaxter died Tuesday at her home in Orlando after a long bout with Alzheimer's, according to her daughter, actress Skye Aubrey, said The Hollywood Reporter.
- A contract player at MGM and Warner Bros in the 1940s and 50s before her career was derailed by illness, Thaxter starred in the psychological thriller Bewitched and classics such as Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo and Act of Violence.
- "She was one of the most beautiful and patrician icons of the golden age of movies, TV and theater," veteran movie critic Rex Reed said.
- Born November 20, 1921, in Portland, Maine, her mother was a former Shakespearean actress and her father a state Supreme Court justice.
- In 1978, Thaxter made one final movie splash when she was cast along with Glenn Ford as Clark Kent's adoptive parents on Earth in Richard Donner's Superman, starring Christopher Reeve. Her daughter Skye was married to Superman executive producer Iiya Salkind.
- "I worked harder on that film than anything I'd done I couldn't be bad," Thaxter once said.
Actress Phyllis Thaxter, whoplayed Ma Kent in the 1978 superhero film
Superman, hasdied. She was 90.
Thaxter died Tuesday at her home in Orlando after a longbout with Alzheimer's, according to her daughter, actress SkyeAubrey, said The Hollywood Reporter.
A contract player at MGM and Warner Bros in the 1940s and50s before her career was derailed by illness, Thaxter starredin the psychological thriller
Bewitched and classics such as
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo and
Act of Violence.
"She was one of the most beautiful and patrician icons ofthe golden age of movies, TV and theater," veteran moviecritic Rex Reed said.
Born November 20, 1921, in Portland, Maine, her motherwas a former Shakespearean actress and her father a stateSupreme Court justice.
In 1978, Thaxter made one final movie splash when she wascast along with Glenn Ford as Clark Kent's adoptive parents onEarth in Richard Donner's Superman, starring ChristopherReeve. Her daughter Skye was married to Superman executiveproducer Iiya Salkind.
"I worked harder on that film than anything I'd done Icouldn't be bad," Thaxter once said.