Cloris Leachman dies aged 94: The Emmy and Oscar-winning actress's life in pictures

Celebrities pay tribute as the star of 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', 'The Last Picture Show' and 'Malcolm in the Middle' leaves an enduring Hollywood legacy

Cloris Leachman and Katharine Hepburn in a scene from the 1950 Shakespeare play 'As You Like It'. Leachman was handpicked by Hepburn to play Celia opposite her Rosalind. Getty Images

Cloris Leachman in her dressing room at the Majestic Theatre with the flowers she received for playing the lead in 'South Pacific' on Broadway in New York, 1952. AP

The actress and her ex-husband, Hollywood producer George Englund, with three of their five children, Adam, Bryan and George Jr. Getty Images

Cloris Leachman as snobby neighbour Phyllis Lindstrom in 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show', alongside Mary Taylor Moore's character Mary Richardson, and Lisa Gerritsen as Bess Lindstrom. Getty Images

Cloris Leachman starred as Ruth Popper opposite Timothy Bottoms' Sonny Crawford in acclaimed 1971 film, 'The Last Picture Show.' Reuters

Leachman won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in 'The Last Picture Show' at the 1972 Academy Awards. She is pictured with her then-husband George Englund, son Brian and his girlfriend Mary. Getty Images

Best Supporting Actress winner Cloris Leachman at the 44th Academy Awards in 1972 with fellow star Racquel Welch. Getty Images

Marty Feldman, Cloris Leachman, Gene Wilder and Teri Garr in the Mel Brooks comedy classic 'Young Frankenstein' in 1974. Rex Features

Cloris Leachman poses with her Emmy award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in 'A Brand New Life' at the primetime television Emmy Awards on May 21, 1975. AP

Cloris Leachman, who was celebrated for her comedy skills, poses for a photo on June 18, 1974. AP

Actress Cloris Leachman poses with the Emmy award she won for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in 'Malcolm in the Middle' at the 2002 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards September 14, 2002 in Los Angeles. Reuters

The actress cuddles an Australian wallaby called Skippy during a 1987 event celebrating her 40 years in show business at Beverly Hills restaurant, Chasen's. AP

Actress Cloris Leachman holds her award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series at the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California, 19 August, 2006. EPA

Cloris Leachman with her fellow 'Malcolm in the Middle' co-stars, Jane Kaczmarek and Bryan Cranston, at the 58th annual Primetime Emmy awards nominees reception in 2006. She played Lois's (Kaczmarek) mother Ida in the show. Reuters

Cloris Leachman with her 'Malcom In The Middle' family, Justin Berfield, Erik Per Sullivan, Bryan Cranston, Frankie Muniz, Jane Kaczmarek, Christopher Kennedy Masterson and Emy Coligado in 2004. Getty Images

The actress with her children and grandchildren in Los Angeles, August 2000. 'She's my soulmate,' said daughter Dinah (left). 'She's my best friend.' Also pictured: Her son Morgan and grandchildren Skye and Jackson.

Cloris Leachman with her former co-star, Mary Tyler Moore, and Betty White at the 2004 TV Land Awards. Getty Images

She appeared on US TV show 'Dancing with the Stars' in 2008 at the age of 82, the oldest contestant to appear. Getty Images

With singer Beyonce at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles August 28, 2011. Reuters

Cloris Leachman with Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler at the premiere of 'Dark Shadows' on May 8, 2012. AFP

Cloris Leachman with three of her four surviving children at the Last Chance for Animals 33rd Annual Celebrity Benefit Gala, October 14, 2017. AFP

Nine-time Emmy award recipient and Best Supporting Actress Oscar-winner Cloris Leachman has died aged 94. The celebrated American actress died of natural causes on Tuesday at her home in California, leaving behind four children and an enduring legacy which encompassed the big and small screen, as well as theatre.

Leachman is best remembered for playing the snobby, gossipy Phyllis Lindstrom in The Mary Tyler Moore Show; as Lois's mum, Ida Welker in Malcolm In The Middle; and for starring roles in Mel Brooks' 1974 comedy classic Young Frankenstein, and 1971 film, The Last Picture Show, for which she scooped the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Throughout her career, Leachman also won nine Emmys, eight primetime and one daytime, a Bafta and a Golden Globe, achieving that elusive Hollywood "overnight" fame in her forties after years in TV, film and theatre. She also became the oldest contestant to appear on US TV show Dancing With The Stars at the age of 82 in 2008.

On Broadway, she was personally hand-picked by Katharine Hepburn to appear opposite her in Shakespeare's As You Like It, and she starred as Nellie Forbush during the original run of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific.

Working consistently throughout her career, Leachman appeared in US TV classics, including The Twilight Zone and Lassie, and starred as Agnes in 1969's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

She married Hollywood actor and producer George Englund in 1953 and the pair went on to have five children, Adam, Bryan, who died in 1986, George Jr, Morgan and Dinah. They divorced in 1979 and she never remarried.

Tributes immediately started pouring in for the actress from the likes of Mel Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, John Stamos and George Takei. With her former director Brooks, writing: “Such sad news, Cloris was insanely talented. She could make you laugh or cry at the drop of a hat. Always such a pleasure to have on set. She is irreplaceable, and will be greatly missed.”

Scroll though the gallery above for 21 photos of the life and career of the great American actress.