by Conan Simmons – March 25, 2021 – 6:31 pm
Jessica Walter, whose career began seven decades ago, has passed away at her home in New York City at the age of 80.
Born in New York City on January 31, 1941 Jessica Walter first appeared on screen in an episode of the 1960 television series ‘Diagnosis: Unknown’. She quickly became a regular on the soap opera ‘Love of Life’ from 1962 – 1965. She also appeared on many more series throughout the decade including ‘Naked City’, ‘Route 66’, ‘The Alfred Hitchcock Hour’, ‘Flipper’ and ‘The Fugitive’.
Jessica Walter made her big screen debut in the 1964 film ‘Lilith’ and in 1966 she earned her first Golden Globe nomination, as Most Promising Newcomer – Female, for her appearance in the all-star sports drama ‘Grand Prix’ alongside James Garner and Toshiro Mifune.
A second Golden Globe nomination came in 1971 for Best Actress in a Drama for her role opposite Clint Eastwood in ‘Play Misty for Me’.
Emmy nominations came in the 1970’s including one win for Best Actress in a Limited Series in 1974’s ‘Amy Prentiss’. She was nominated for Best Lead Actress in a Single Appearance on a Series for a 1976 episode of ‘The Streets of San Francisco’. Another nomination came in 1979 for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for ‘Trapper John, M.D.’ which she was a regular on from 1979 to 1985.
Television work continued to be lucrative for her as she appeared frequently on the series ‘The F.B.I.’ from 1966 – 1973 and ‘Love, American Style’ from 1969 – 1973. Other series she appeared in were ‘Mission: Impossible’, ‘The Most Dangerous Game’, ‘Alias Smith and Jones’, ‘The Sixth Sense’, ‘Banacek’, ‘Cannon’, ‘Ironside’, ‘Hawaii Five-O’, ‘Mannix’, ‘McCloud’ and ‘Columbo’.
Comic book super heroes also came into play in her work as she showed up in an episode of ‘Wonder Woman’ and played Morgan LeFay in the Marvel comics 1978 television movie ‘Dr. Strange’.
Regular and steady work continued for Jessica Walter with multiple roles on ‘The Love Boat’ from 1978 – 1985 and ‘Murder, She Wrote’ from 1985 – 1994. As ever, she also popped up in ‘Magnum P.I.’, ‘Matt Houston’ and ‘Knots Landing’.
In 1991 Jessica Walter began voice acting, first in small parts for the popular animated series ‘The Pirates of Dark Water’ then for the hit animated series ‘Dinosaurs’ from 1991 – 1994.
Making occasional big screen appearances over the decades one of her more memorable movies was the 1998 hit ‘Slums of Beverly Hills’ starring Natasha Lyonne, Alan Arkin and Marisa Tomei.
Television series in the 1990’s Jessica Walter showed up in included ‘Babylon 5’ and ‘Law & Order’.
Appearing in guest spots in the 2000’s on series ‘Touched by an Angel’ and ‘The Big Bang Theory’, Jessica Walter would become a regular on the popular hit series ‘Arrested Development’ from 2003 – 2019. In 2004 she earned another Emmy nomination for her work on that show in the category of Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
Voice work also brought more success with regular work on the series ‘Star vs. the Forces of Evil’ from 2015 – 2018 and the popular hit series ‘Archer’ from 2009 – 2020.
With over 160 film and television credits Jessica Walter leaves behind a legacy of success few in the industry achieve.