Betty McGuire, 1926 – 2026

Movie, TV and stage actress Betty McGuire, 100, died on Oct. 8. In the 1950s, she appeared on Broadway in Plain and Fancy, Happy Hunting, and Oh, Captain!, also acting on the road in Gypsy, Oliver!, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and the disastrous Ziegfeld Follies of 1956. She had continuing roles in Growing Pains and Falcon Crest, also appearing on TV in The Doris Day Show, Phyllis, Charlie’s Angels, Lou Grant, Hill Street Blues, Moonlighting, Murphy Brown, and many other shows; on the big screen, she had small or supporting roles in Coma, The Incredible Shrinking Woman, Wishmaster, Switchblade Sisters, Heroes, Up in Smoke, Hometown USA, and, most recently, 2009’s Play the Game. After retiring, McGuire moved to the famed Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, where she hosted a cable show featuring the residents, also working with The Coalition for Economic Survival, “a multi-racial, multi-culture grass-roots community-based organization that has been dedicated to organizing low and moderate income people to win economic and social justice throughout the greater Los Angeles area since 1973.”