Actress Penelope Milford, nominated for an Academy Award in 1979 for her role in Hal Ashby’s Coming Home, has passed away.
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The stage and screen star died Tuesday in Saugerties, New York, according to Variety. Her brother, Doug Milford, confirmed her death. A cause was not immediately available. She was 77.
Milford began her New York stage career in 1971, co-starring with Richard Gere in the Off-Broadway production Long Time Coming and a Long Time Gone, based on Richard Farina’s life.
Milford debuted on Broadway in 1972 in Julian Barry’s Tony Award-winning play Lenny. Three years later, she earned a Drama Desk nomination for Featured Actress in a Musical for Shenandoah.
During this time, Milford also began appearing in films. She had a role in Norman Mailer’s 1970 independent film Maidstone and played a silent-film star in Ken Russell’s 1977 biopic Valentino.
However, her role as Vi Munson in the Oscar-nominated Best Picture Coming Home truly launched her into the top ranks of Hollywood performers. The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Milford’s for Best Supporting Actress, and won three, including Best Actress for Jane Fonda and Best Actor for Jon Voight.
In the ’80s, Milford also held several notable television roles. Per IMDb, she co-starred with Henry Fonda, Cloris Leachman, and Timothy Hutton in the Emmy-winning TV play The Oldest Living Graduate (1980), and with Leonard Nimoy in the television movie Seizure: The Story of Kathy Morris (1980).
She also played a key role in the landmark TV film about spousal abuse, The Burning Bed (1984), starring Farrah Fawcett, which earned numerous accolades, including a WGA award and a Golden Globe.
Beyond Acting, Penelope Milford Enjoyed a Career as a Teacher and Preservationist
Milford went on to play key roles in notable films such as Heathers (1988) and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Part II (1996).
In the 1990s, Milford taught film acting in Chicago and Minneapolis. In 2003, she moved to Saugerties in the Hudson Valley. There, she became a dedicated preservationist, restoring a historic home and actively supporting efforts to maintain the town’s historic commercial district and residences. She also performed in local theater, sang with the Bard Symphonic Chorus, and was involved with the Woodstock Christian Science church.
She was preceded in death by her brother, actor and singer Richard Kim Milford, and is survived by her sister, Candace Saint, and her brother, Doug Milford.