"If this is an obituary, I won't hear it and I won't respond to it."

March 25, 2021 12:37 PM

She was Lucille Bluth and Malory Archer and Fran Sinclair. Jessica Walter has passed at 80.
posted by mightygodking (112 comments total)

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posted by mikelieman at 12:37 PM on March 25, 2021

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So sad. Amazing comedic talent and forever the funniest character on the screen, no matter the show.
posted by bigendian at 12:41 PM on March 25, 2021 [8 favorites]

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posted by praemunire at 12:42 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by little onion at 12:42 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by jedicus at 12:43 PM on March 25, 2021

🍌
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 12:44 PM on March 25, 2021 [25 favorites]

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Genuinely one of the funniest people to ever grace the screen.
posted by gkhan at 12:44 PM on March 25, 2021 [5 favorites]

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posted by riruro at 12:44 PM on March 25, 2021

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May her memory be a blessing.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:46 PM on March 25, 2021 [3 favorites]

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posted by slimepuppy at 12:46 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by Pendragon at 12:47 PM on March 25, 2021

"I'll leave when I'm good and ready!"
posted by box at 12:47 PM on March 25, 2021 [14 favorites]

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posted by Cash4Lead at 12:49 PM on March 25, 2021

Was just revisiting the whole Motherboy arc yesterday. RIP.
posted by migurski at 12:51 PM on March 25, 2021 [2 favorites]

Well, shit.
posted by Capt. Renault at 12:54 PM on March 25, 2021

I guess that perennial MeFi topic of the Arrested Development movie has now faded away. Too bad. She was great!

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posted by njohnson23 at 12:57 PM on March 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

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posted by papayaninja at 12:57 PM on March 25, 2021

🍸
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 1:00 PM on March 25, 2021 [12 favorites]

She had a damned good run.
posted by GuyZero at 1:00 PM on March 25, 2021 [2 favorites]

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She will be missed.

I'm glad she will at least be a well known meme and memory of her will live long.

"I mean, it's one banana Michael, what could it cost? Ten dollars?"

I will never, ever forgive Jeffrey Tambor for being mean to her.
posted by deadaluspark at 1:03 PM on March 25, 2021 [64 favorites]

I honestly thought she was much younger. She’s had that femme d’un certain age energy forever.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:05 PM on March 25, 2021 [19 favorites]

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posted by Silvery Fish at 1:16 PM on March 25, 2021

An all-time great comic actress. Plus, in retrospect, Jeremy Piven was the bad guy in "P.C.U." and not her.

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posted by HunterFelt at 1:16 PM on March 25, 2021 [8 favorites]

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posted by dlugoczaj at 1:16 PM on March 25, 2021

Another wonderful short highlight reel.
posted by PhineasGage at 1:17 PM on March 25, 2021 [4 favorites]

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posted by Karmeliet at 1:18 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by valdesm at 1:18 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by The Great Big Mulp at 1:24 PM on March 25, 2021

A+++ for the title.

And

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posted by Gorgik at 1:28 PM on March 25, 2021 [3 favorites]

This is a sad loss. She was a comic genius and I was impressed when she called out Tambor in that horrible NYT interview when all the men in the cast gaslit her.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 1:28 PM on March 25, 2021 [33 favorites]

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posted by gauche at 1:33 PM on March 25, 2021

It's nearly impossible to overstate just how good she was.

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posted by mixedmetaphors at 1:34 PM on March 25, 2021 [3 favorites]

Heartbroken & crying.

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posted by Saxon Kane at 1:38 PM on March 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

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posted by double bubble at 1:41 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by From Bklyn at 1:41 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by Thorzdad at 1:44 PM on March 25, 2021

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I don't know what they were planning for the next season of Archer, but I am guessing Sterling won't take this well.
posted by Badgermann at 1:48 PM on March 25, 2021 [10 favorites]

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posted by nobeagle at 1:52 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by mikelynch at 1:54 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by solotoro at 1:55 PM on March 25, 2021

Earliest memories: The $10,000 Pyramid. “And here is Jessica Walter and Nipsey Russell!”

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posted by Melismata at 1:55 PM on March 25, 2021 [3 favorites]

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posted by Ber at 1:56 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by glaucon at 1:56 PM on March 25, 2021

🍸
posted by loquacious at 2:06 PM on March 25, 2021 [8 favorites]

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posted by Arson Lupine at 2:16 PM on March 25, 2021

Jessica Walters prompted me and my therapist to discuss why I find mean & unapologetic old ladies so fucking hilarious. Learned a bunch about my childhood.

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posted by Sauce Trough at 2:16 PM on March 25, 2021 [15 favorites]

Lucille: [reading from menu] I'll have the Ike and Tina Tuna.

Waitress: Plate or platter?

Lucille: I don't understand the question and I won't respond to it.
posted by Atom Eyes at 2:22 PM on March 25, 2021 [21 favorites]

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posted by col_pogo at 2:26 PM on March 25, 2021

🍸
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 2:31 PM on March 25, 2021 [3 favorites]

Dang. What a loss.
posted by Jacen at 2:38 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by mandolin conspiracy at 2:38 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by condour75 at 2:39 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by Merus at 3:02 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by joannemerriam at 3:14 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by stevil at 3:20 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 3:24 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by crocomancer at 3:26 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by tdismukes at 3:35 PM on March 25, 2021

Because that’s how you get tears.

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posted by mochapickle at 3:51 PM on March 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

I feel like I've loved her for most of my life.

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posted by kitten kaboodle at 4:02 PM on March 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

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posted by augustimagination at 4:07 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by dannyboybell at 4:07 PM on March 25, 2021

🍸
posted by lapolla at 4:15 PM on March 25, 2021

I can’t conceive of a better person to inhabit the character of Malory Archer. Her delivery was pitch perfect in that show. Incredible actor.
posted by darkstar at 4:16 PM on March 25, 2021 [7 favorites]

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posted by 3j0hn at 4:19 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by SageLeVoid at 4:24 PM on March 25, 2021

Aw, man. She had baby Lucille Bluth pretty well dialed-in in 1966, as Libby in The Group.

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posted by queensissy at 4:46 PM on March 25, 2021 [1 favorite]

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posted by macrael at 4:59 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by pyro979 at 5:02 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by riverlife at 5:03 PM on March 25, 2021

This Jezebel headline was exactly my response to the person who texted me with the news (though I used all caps).
posted by ejs at 5:23 PM on March 25, 2021

“What could it cost, Michael? $10” is an immortal line, and a defining gag of our time.

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posted by Going To Maine at 5:34 PM on March 25, 2021 [4 favorites]

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posted by Don.Kinsayder at 5:36 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by wiskunde at 5:44 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by cazoo at 5:50 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by FallibleHuman at 5:52 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by epj at 6:20 PM on March 25, 2021

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posted by porpoise at 6:23 PM on March 25, 2021

I often say, "Do you want ants? Because this is how you get ants" but I can never approach her level of disdain.

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posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 6:23 PM on March 25, 2021 [8 favorites]

Ah, crap.
posted by Naberius at 6:29 PM on March 25, 2021

They don't allow you to have bees in here.

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posted by cmfletcher at 7:30 PM on March 25, 2021 [3 favorites]

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posted by evilDoug at 7:38 PM on March 25, 2021

Do you want dots ? This is how you get dots.

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posted by NoThisIsPatrick at 7:52 PM on March 25, 2021 [9 favorites]

TIL that she was the mama in the Muppet Dinosaur show. Not the mama, not the mama? She was the mama.
posted by Capt. Renault at 8:11 PM on March 25, 2021 [6 favorites]

Her filmography is very TV heavy and covers so much from the 70s on. She was a professional guest star. Love Boat! McMillan and Wife! Trapper John, MD! Mannix! And lots of forgettable stuff, terrible movies, soap opera roles. I'm glad she got to shine so much more at the end of her career.
posted by emjaybee at 9:15 PM on March 25, 2021 [6 favorites]

And somehow I'm only just now learning that she was Fran Sinclair?? Jessica Walter and all her varied characters cast a larger shadow over my life than I would have been able to guess, but her credits listing reveal many of my formative role models. What a treasure.
posted by lilac girl at 9:38 PM on March 25, 2021 [2 favorites]

Lucille + lucille 2 has got to be one of the best tv frenemy pairings ever to grave the screen.

So sad.

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posted by ikahime at 10:04 PM on March 25, 2021 [7 favorites]

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Look at obituary Michael.
posted by bendy at 11:53 PM on March 25, 2021 [4 favorites]

🐜
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:05 AM on March 26, 2021 [3 favorites]

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posted by Leeway at 12:42 AM on March 26, 2021

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posted by filtergik at 3:48 AM on March 26, 2021

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Her story about what it was like to work with Jeffrey Tambor will stay with me as an example of what even powerful women can go through when there is an uncontrolled abuser in the workplace. I am grateful to her for her openness.
posted by eirias at 4:05 AM on March 26, 2021 [15 favorites]

🍌
posted by Gelatin at 4:42 AM on March 26, 2021 [2 favorites]

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posted by lordrunningclam at 5:07 AM on March 26, 2021

My favorite story about Jessica Walter is that very early in the production of "Archer", she asked creator Adam Reed to explain a very, very crass joke that he'd written for her character Mallory Archer. He was embarrassed, and tried to divert the question with vague hand waving and she told him, "Well, I'm not saying any lines that I don't understand." And he went on to say, more or less, that Jessica Walter in real life was nothing at all like Mallory Archer, and was in actuality a very sweet person. So he had a terrible sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach when he realized that he was going to have to explain every awful thing he put down on the page if there was to be any hope of hearing it performed.
posted by Ipsifendus at 5:23 AM on March 26, 2021 [17 favorites]

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posted by dazed_one at 5:27 AM on March 26, 2021

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posted by Glinn at 5:45 AM on March 26, 2021

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posted by HiddenInput at 7:45 AM on March 26, 2021

🍌.
posted by adekllny at 7:55 AM on March 26, 2021 [1 favorite]

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posted by detachd at 9:16 AM on March 26, 2021

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posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 10:22 AM on March 26, 2021

Shit this one really hit me.
posted by aspersioncast at 10:29 AM on March 26, 2021

The best line I've seen that captures my feelings is "I would cry, but I can't spare the moisture."
posted by The Outsider at 11:44 AM on March 26, 2021 [10 favorites]

Don't forget she was Evelyn Draper as well!
posted by gtrwolf at 12:04 PM on March 26, 2021 [2 favorites]

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posted by SystematicAbuse at 1:40 PM on March 26, 2021

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posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 2:07 PM on March 26, 2021

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posted by droplet at 3:30 PM on March 26, 2021

Don't forget she was Evelyn Draper as well!

Last night we watched Play Misty For Me in her honor. I'd never seen it; my partner says she's seen it ten times. It was great seeing her at the beginning of her career (and so young!), but doubly great to see her infuse what could have been a one note, one dimensional character with so much inner life. It wasn't a comedy, but you could see how she would be a comedic superstar.
posted by ejs at 6:49 PM on March 26, 2021 [1 favorite]

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posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 5:31 PM on March 27, 2021

days later and i’m still going back to reread the tributes people left her. alia shawkat 💜💚


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posted by ovenmitt at 6:11 PM on March 27, 2021

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posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:50 PM on March 29, 2021

> "Jessica Walters arriving in heaven, meeting St Peter, only to discover he is actually Gene Parmesan."
posted by Pronoiac at 4:50 PM on March 31, 2021 [3 favorites]