LOS ANGELES, CA – Katherine Helmond, the comedic actress best known for her Emmy- nominated role as Jessica Tate on the ABC sitcom “Soap” and as Mona Robinson on “Who’s the Boss?,” died in Los Angeles at age 89.
Famous for her blazing red hair and sultry, salty delivery, Helmond was a mainstay on sitcoms spanning three decades from the 1970s hit “Soap,” which earned her four Best Actress Emmy nominations all the way to 2002, when she was nominated for her guest role on “Everybody Loves Raymond.” She was also a favorite in Terry Gilliam films such as “Time Bandits,” “Brazil” and “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.”
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, her talent agency APA said Helmond died Feb. 23 at her Los Angeles home due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease.
In the soap-opera send-up “Soap,” Helmond starred opposite Billy Crystal, Robert Guillaume and Richard Mulligan. She scored two supporting-actress nominations for her performance as Mona — the man-crazy mother of Judith Light’s character on “Who’s the Boss?,” which starred Tony Danza.
A native of Texas, Helmond also had recurring roles on the sitcoms “Coach,” and she played Goldie Hawn’s mother in the hit film “Overboard.” Although she never won an Emmy, she won Golden Globe Awards for both “Soap” and “Who’s the Boss?”She would also go on to provide the voice for Lizzie in the Disney/Pixar “Cars” films.
Helmond began her career on stage, and she earned a Tony nomination for her work in “The Great God Brown” in 1973.
Friends and co-stars alike shared their grief Monday.
“My beautiful, kind, funny, gracious, compassionate, rock. You were an instrumental part of my life,” tweeted Alyssa Milano. “You taught me to hold my head above the marsh! You taught me to do anything for a laugh! What an example you were!”
“RIP Katherine Helmond, blithe spirit of Soap. She beautifully embodied an airy, throwaway style of sitcom acting that doesn’t really exist anymore and that I suspect was much harder than it appeared to be.,” wrote Mark Harris.
City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.