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'Mary Tyler Moore Show' Actress Georgia Engel Dies at 70
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
April 16, 2019

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LOS ANGELES โ€” Georgia Engel, who played the charmingly innocent, small-voiced Georgette on โ€œThe Mary Tyler Moore Showโ€ and amassed a string of other TV and stage credits, has died. She was 70.

The cause of death was unknown because she was a Christian Scientist and didnโ€™t see doctors, Quilty said Monday.
Engel died Friday in Princeton, New Jersey, said her friend and executor, John Quilty. The cause of death was unknown because she was a Christian Scientist and didnโ€™t see doctors, Quilty said Monday.
โ€œI know the world will be sad and sorry. She touched so many people,โ€ said her agent, Jacqueline Stander.
Engel was best known for her role as Georgette on โ€œThe Mary Tyler Moore Show,โ€ the character who was improbably destined to marry pompous anchorman Ted Baxter, played by Ted Knight.
Engel also had recurring roles on โ€œEverybody Loves Raymondโ€ and โ€œHot in Cleveland.โ€ She was a five-time Emmy nominee, receiving two nods for the late Mooreโ€™s show and three for โ€œEverybody Loves Raymond.โ€
She was โ€œthe sweetest, kindest, dearest woman. And crazy talented. I will miss her,โ€ Valerie Bertinelli, who starred in โ€œHot in Cleveland,โ€ said in a Twitter post.


Georgia Bright Engel was born in July 1948 in Washington, D.C., to parents Benjamin, a Coast Guard officer, and Ruth Engel. She studied theater at the University of Hawaii.
Her prolific career included guest appearances on a variety of series, including โ€œThe Love Boat,โ€ โ€Fantasy Island,โ€ โ€Coachโ€ and โ€œTwo and a Half Men.โ€ Her โ€œHot in Clevelandโ€ role reunited her with Betty White, her co-star in โ€œThe Mary Tyler Moore Showโ€ (1972-77) and โ€œThe Betty White Showโ€ (1977-78).

Engel Could Be as Upbeat as the Fictional Georgette

Engel appeared on Broadway in plays and musicals including โ€œHello, Dolly!โ€, โ€œThe Boys from Syracuseโ€ and, most recently, โ€œThe Drowsey Chaperoneโ€ in 2006-07. She starred in an off-Broadway production of โ€œUncle Vanyaโ€ in 2012.
Engel could be as upbeat as the fictional Georgette, as was demonstrated during a panel discussion last year promoting the 2018 PBS special, โ€œBetty White: First Lady of Television.โ€

โ€œWhat you see is what you get. Thatโ€™s not a character voice โ€” thatโ€™s our girl.โ€ โ€” Betty White
She recalled that a possible โ€œEverybody Loves Raymondโ€ spinoff set to include her and Fred Willard never come to fruition, which she called a great disappointment.
โ€œBut if that hadnโ€™t happened,โ€ she said, โ€œI wouldnโ€™t have been able to starโ€ in writer-actor Bob Martinโ€™s โ€œDrowsey Chaperone,โ€ which led to her custom-tailored role in Martinโ€™s โ€œHalf Time.โ€ The musical, about older adults who school themselves in hip hop to perform in half-time shows, was staged in New Jersey last year.
โ€œItโ€™s given me such joy,โ€ said Engel, who had hoped to see it move to Broadway.
Her real-life voice was as sweet as the one familiar from her screen roles. โ€œWhat you see is what you get. Thatโ€™s not a character voice โ€” thatโ€™s our girl,โ€ a smiling White said in a 2012 interview with Engel, calling her a โ€œpure goldโ€ friend and colleague.
Engelโ€™s final credited television appearance came last year in the Netflix series โ€œOne Day at a Time.โ€
Funeral services for Engel, whose survivors include her sisters Robin Engel and Penny Lusk, will be private, Quilty said.

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