Liz died. In the 1990s, she played Jerry's mother, Helen, on the landmark TV comedy, "Seinfeld." She had a recurring role on the same network in the 80s as a neighbor named Raquel Ochmonek. A dancer and singer in addition to her work as an actor, Sheridan continued performing well into her 80s, including starring opposite Andy Griffith in a romantic comedy, that was his final film role. According to Deadline, she died of natural causes this week at the age of 93.
She met James Dean when they were both in their 20s and wrote about their romance in her 2000 book. After the pair split, she spent a few years in the Caribbean as a nightclub dancer and singer before returning to New York to pursue a career on Broadway. The co-stars at the time included Christopher Lloyd.
After moving to Hollywood in the 1970s, she transitioned to the screen. There, she filmed a number of one-shot roles. She was cast as busybody Mrs. Ochmonek in NBC's ALF in 1986. Although she brought her own spin to the character, the role was pretty clearly working in the same vein as Bewitched's Gladys Kravitz and Elizabeth Montgomery. Although never part of the main cast, she appeared in 34 episodes of the show as an obstacle for the Tanner family's attempts to keep their alien roommate, Gordon Shumway, a secret from the world at large.
In a similar way, she was never part of the main cast of the show, but her performance as a mother who could never understand why someone wouldn't love her baby boy was a recurring tool. The late Barney Martin, who played the fictional father of the show's main character, was a key part of building the tension in any number of episodes. She could toss out a venomous message to Newman with the best of them.
Liz Sheridan had a long, strange, and exciting career, one that spanned both roles she was best known for, as well as the most high-profile. She embodied a very specific incarnation of the type of TV mothering that she didn't want to be, while also imbuing the role with comic timing that perfectly matched the tone of one of the shows.
Her film performance was credited in 2010. Jerry Seinfeld paid tribute to her on the social networking site, calling her the sweetest, nicest TV mom a son could wish for.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
