By Nathaniel R
Terrible news to report this afternoon. The actress Glenne Headly has died rather suddenly at just 62.
Headly came to fame on the stage in acclaimed productions in the mid 80s like Balm in Gilead, Extremities, and The Philanthropist and big movie roles soon followed. At the peak of her fame in the late 80s and early 90s she co-starred in box office hits Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) and Dick Tracy (1990) and was Emmy nominated for the miniseries Lonesome Dove (1989) inbetween those twin peaks...
Our household mourns the sudden loss of beloved friend, actress, and comic genius, Glenne Headly.
— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) June 9, 2017
Though always more of a serious actor than a "celebrity," she even briefly proved tabloid fodder when John Malkovich, her husband for the bulk of the 1980s, had an affair with Michelle Pfeiffer on the set of Dangerous Liaisons. They soon divorced.
For reasons I can't fully explain, once you get past her sly comic centerpiece in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (weirdly ignored by the Golden Globes but for Michael Caine) my next thought when I think of Headly is always Mortal Thoughts (1991). In that little seen thriller she co-headlined with Demi Moore as two women suspected in the murder of her husband.
There were recently signs of a shrewd worldweary supporting MVP style comeback brewing. She was excellent in the impressive ensemble of HBO's The Night Of (pictured left) and has a memorable brief role in Holly Hunter's recent festival bow Strange Weather. She was also just in theaters as part of the Tom Hanks/Emma Watson thriller The Circle. Her final role will be Diane Futterman, the pot-smoking mother of Josh Hutcherson's character in Hulu's new series Future Man. Her role will not be recast but her completed episodes will be aired.
She is survived by her husband Byron McCulloch and their 20 year old son Stirling.