Girls, I Am Telling You Right Now--Broadway Should Dim The Lights For Melinda Dillon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                        Melinda Dillon was one of the most gifted, and underrated actresses of our time.  Her death took place on January 9, 2023, but was not announced till early this month for reasons unexplained, as was her cause of death.

                       Here is the iconic shot of Melinda Dillon and Cary Guffey in Steven Spielberg's 1977 "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind."  I remember my father and I going to see this film, at the Loew's in East Brunswick, on December 31, 1977.  Melinda Dillon and Cary Guffey made the film for me, and I discovered an extraordinary actress.  She deserved the nomination she received for her performance in this film.

                         I have never seen "A Christmas Story," nor did I know she was in it.  But for sure I will see it now.  She also should have had more screen time and earned herself another nomination (as she did for "Absence Of Malice," which I did see) for her brilliant performance as Nick Nolte's troubled sister, Savannah, in the 1991 film "The Prince Of Tides."  It was a good film, a fine adaptation of the Pat Conroy book, and, while BARBRA did a great job with the other actors, she had to make it about herself and the fingernails, which cost Melinda some screen time and an Oscar nod.

                          And I can never forget her heartbreaking performance as Jenny Rogers, on "Law And Order SVU," back in 2005.   She played a mother whose no-good drug dealer son put her out on the streets as a homeless person.  It should have earned her an Emmy.

                          But, darlings, some of you may not recall why Melinda was nominated for a TONY Award for her work on Broadway.  Before Sandy Dennis won the Oscar for it, Melinda, on stage, in 1962, was the original Honey, in Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?"  For this alone, the Broadway lights should be dimmed, not to mention. for her other achievements.  

                              She was a gifted actress seen too infrequently.  An article I read alleged she withdrew from acting when young, due to emotional problems, and that 'Close Encounters' was like a comeback for her.  What a comeback, and how smart of Spielberg to have landed Melinda for his film.

                               The truly gifted go, so experience them while one can.  Melinda had a gift and left a body of work that I want to see, again and again.

                                 Rest In Peace, Melinda Dillon.  You will always be one of the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                 Here is that iconic scene from 'Close Encounters.'  Keep an eye on Melinda Dillon.  What a brilliant actress!!!!!!!!!!!!!