In The News

Actress Eileen Brennan passes away

Actress Eileen Brennan passes away

THE actress Eileen Brennan has passed away in the United States. She was 80.

For many fans, Ms Brennan will be best remembered for her role in the film Private Benjamin (1980) alongside Goldie Hawn. The role of tough-talking Captain Doreen Lewis won her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

She went on to reprise the role in the TV series based on the movie which ran between 1981 and 1983 (see below), going on to win a Emmy and a Golden Globe for her work on the series.

Ms Brennan had begun her acting career in New York before heading to Hollywood in the late 1960s. One of her first breaks came on TV with work on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In. One of her first movie parts was as the waitress Genevieve in The Last Picture Show, which was directed by Peter Bogdanovich. The role won her a Bafta nomination.

Her other films included The Sting (1973), At Long Last Love (1975), The Cheap Detective (1978), see below, Clue (1985) and Jeepers Creepers (2001).

Ms. Brennan was also a familiar face on television appearing in such shows as Murder She Wrote, 7th Heaven and Will & Grace.

In 1982, she suffered serious leg injuries after being struck by a car in Los Angeles (see below). However, she battled back (including overcoming a dependency on painkillers) to resume her acting career.

Ms. Brennan passed away at her home in Burbank, California. She had been suffering from cancer.

To view an excerpt from the TV series of Private Benjamin in which Ms. Brennan features, click here.

To see a clip of Ms. Brennan in The Cheap Detective, click here.

To listen to an interview Ms. Brennan gave to Scott Spears Now, in which she discusses the accident which left her seriously injured, click here.

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