One of the Broadway greats has passed away.
Broadway great Elaine Stritch has passed away on Thursday morning. She was 89.
Though the five-time Tony nominee is perhaps best known for her stage presence (Bus Stop, Sail Away, Company), her TV and film resume is also quite impressive.
From 2008-2013, she was nominated for an Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Primetime Emmy for her role as Colleen Donaghy, the mother of Alec Baldwin's character Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock. In 1993, she won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for Law & Order.
She's also appeared in two Woody Allen movies, September (1987) and Small Time Crooks (2000). Her other more recent film credits include Monster In Law (2005), Autumn In New York (2000), Screwed (2000) and Out to Sea (1997).
As far as her musical background, Stritch has starred in No No Nanette, The King and I and I Married an Angel. She was also nominated for a Grammy Award in 2005 for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for The Best Halloween Ever. The actress was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1995.
Stritch was married to John Bay in 1973. He passed away in 1982.
"Elaine was truly one-of-a-kind," said her agent Joel Dean. "She was feisty, irascible and at the same time very vulnerable. After first meeting her she was very protective and hard to get to know but once I did she would be a friend forever. I learned not to be intimidated when she yelled at me which was very often."
"So many people have been reaching out this afternoon with apologies and condolences, but I haven't had a single cry yet -- I am the most blessed actor and human alive to have had the opportunity to get to know Elaine Stritch in the capacity that I did," said actor Hunter Ryan Herdlicka. "We first met in 2010 when she joined the Broadway production of A Little Night Music that I was in -- and from day one we were inseparable. She told a joke backstage one night and I was the only one that laughed at the punch line. That's all it took!! She taught me so much, but most importantly, she taught me who I was. She taught me to always search for the truth and that there was nothing more important than the love that can exist for other people in this world. She was the closest person in my life and I wish everyone in this world could have had the chance I had to get to know her. She was a gift to this world."