Jill Clayburgh loses battle with leukemia

The Oscar nominated Jill Clayburgh who had chronic lymphocylic leukemia for 21 years had died at the age of 66 surrounded by her family at her home in Lakeville, California. The sophisticated Hollywood and Broadway actress is known for portraying empowered women in a career spanning five decades. In 1978 in a film called,”An Unmarried Woman,’ exploring life and sexuality after i6 years of marriage, earned Clayburgh her first Oscar nod.
Clayburgh said in an interview with the Associated Press,” There was practically nothing for women to do on the screen in the 1950s and 1960s but play a one sided character, a vulnerable sex object that was a real fantasy, that Marilyn played so great on the screen.

The following year she was again nominated for an Oscar for,”Starting Over,’ also starring Burt Reynolds. The story was about a divorced man who falls in love but can’t get over his ex-wife .Effortlessly moving between comedic and dramatic roles in films, stage and television she steadily appeared for the next 30 years in one of these venues. Clayburgh’s Broadway credits include Noel Cowards ,”Design for Living,”.the original production of Tom Stoppards,”Jumpers,” and the Tony Award winning musicals,”Pippin”and “The Rothschilds.”Also appearing in such movies as,”Im Dancing as Fast as I Can,” Silver Streak,” and “Running with Scissors.”