Actress Sada Thompson Dies at 83

According to the NY Times, Tony and Emmy winner Sada Thompson passed away on Wednesday in Danbury, Connecticut from lung disease. She was 83 years old. 

Thompson earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, after which she worked steadily in regional theatre in such plays as The Seagull, Pygmalion, Our Town, Arms and the Man, and Blithe Spirit. She made her off-Broadway debut in a 1955 production of Under Milkwood, and the following year she appeared on television in a Goodyear Television Playhouse production.

She made her Broadway debut in the 1959 musical Juno. Her additional New York City stage-credits include The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, Tartuffe, and Twigs. Her performances have won her the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, the Obie Award, three Drama Desk Awards, and two Sarah Siddons Awards, presented for outstanding performances in Chicago theatre. Her long and successful career on stage resulted in her being elected to the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

Her portrayal of matriarch Kate Lawrence on Family won her the 1978 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and garnered her three nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Series Drama. She has been nominated for the Emmy Award nine times in total. Additional television credits include Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, The Love Boat, Father Dowling Mysteries, Andre's Mother, Cheers, Indictment: The McMartin Trial, and Law & Order.

Thompson's feature films include The Pursuit of Happiness, Desperate Characters and Pollock.

She is urvived by daughter, Liza Stewart.