'Mom' actress dies of cancer at 70

Mary Pat Gleason was best known for her roles in the sitcom Mom and the 2004 rom-com A Cinderella Story. PHOTO: RON FASSLER/ FACEBOOK

LOS ANGELES • American film and television actress Mary Pat Gleason died on Tuesday night aged 70, according to USA Today.

The actress, best known for her roles in the ongoing sitcom Mom and the 2004 rom-com A Cinderella Story, lost a five-year battle with cancer, according to a family statement released by her manager, Todd Justice.

Her friend, actor Ron Fassler, posted a tribute on Facebook calling Gleason "one of the dearest and sweetest people I have ever had the pleasure to know".

"She was so much more than a wonderful actress: she was one of a kind. So caring, so funny, and so delicious to be around, that I find it hard to imagine a world without her shining presence and smiling face."

Her last film appearance was in the 2018 Netflix movie Sierra Burgess Is A Loser, in which she played an education counsellor to the movie's protagonist Sierra, played by actress Shannon Purser.

Gleason played Mary, a member of an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) group, on the sitcom Mom.

In an episode that aired in October last year, her character, who often shared bizarre anecdotes with the AA group, died of a brain aneurysm during a meeting. It was Gleason's final television appearance.

She also had roles in Friends, Will & Grace and How To Get Away With Murder.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 05, 2020, with the headline 'Mom' actress dies of cancer at 70. Subscribe