• Melinda Dillon passed away at the age of 83.
• In an obituary written by her family, it is stated that the actress passed away on January 9
• She was best recognized for her roles in A Christmas Story and Close Encounters.

Melinda Dillon passed away at the age of 83, according to her family. She was best recognized for her roles in A Christmas Story and Close Encounters. In an obituary written by her family, it is stated that the actress passed away on January 9 and was cremated. She was nominated for two Oscars.

Her cause of death has not yet been made public. Before assuming her most well-known role as the matriarch of the Parker family in the 1983 film A Christmas Story, Dillon began her acting career in the 1962 Broadway production of Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, for which she received a Tony Award nomination.

In the late 1960s, Dillon continued to add theatre roles to her resume. She starred in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, directed by Steven Spielberg, for which she received the first of her two Oscar nods; the second came for her work in the 1981 film Absence of Malice.

Many others paid tribute to the actress after she passed away on Friday, including show writer Bryan Fuller, who tweeted, “Rest in power” for Dillon.

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