Lily Tomlin Remembers Her ‘Extraordinary’ ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ Costar Cloris Leachman
Cloris Leachman died of natural causes on Wednesday at the age of 94
Lily Tomlin is looking back at her time on set with the late Cloris Leachman, who died this week at the age of 94.
On Thursday, the Grace and Frankie star 81, shared some of her favorite memories of Leachman during the filming of their 1993 comedy The Beverly Hillbillies.
“She was the most extraordinary person,” Tomlin said on Thursday’s episode of The Talk. “She will come into the make-up room every morning and just regale us with stories. Our mouths will be dropped open, half the time we’d be laughing out loud. You just never knew what she was going to come up with. “
“It was just a providential bit of comedy that was just really fun to do,” Tomlin said.
“When I was rescuing her from a hospital where she had shock treatments … and we’re running down the hall together, and some how we got our bags mixed up,” she recalled. “We absolutely improved the whole thing. We had no idea it was going to happen, and we didn’t know it would stay in the movie.”
Tomlin also called Leachman a “great scene partner,” revealing that they had completely improvised one of the movie’s iconic scenes.
The actress added that she “was just crestfallen” when she heard the news of Leachman’s death.
“I felt she was going to live forever,” Tomlin said on The Talk.
Based on the hit CBS sitcom, The Beverly Hillbillies movie also starred Jim Varney, Diedrich Bader, Dabney Coleman, Erika Eleniak, Rob Schneider and Lea Thompson.
Leachman died of natural causes on Wednesday, her manager Juliet Green previously confirmed to PEOPLE.
“It’s been my privilege to work with Cloris Leachman, one of the most fearless actresses of our time. There was no one like Cloris. With a single look she had the ability to break your heart or make you laugh till the tears ran down your face. You never knew what Cloris was going to say or do and that unpredictable quality was part of her unparalleled magic,” Green said.
“She loved her children and her grandson ferociously. A lifelong vegetarian, she was a passionate advocate for animal rights. The family requests that any donations in her name be made to PETA or Last Chance for Animals.”
According to TMZ, which first reported the news, Leachman passed away at her home in Encinitas, California, with her daughter, Dinah, by her side.
In the wake of her death, Leachman’s former colleagues commemorated her legacy in loving tributes on social media.
“Such sad news — Cloris was insanely talented. She could make you laugh or cry at the drop of a hat. Always such a pleasure to have on set,” Mel Brooks — who directed Leachman in High Anxiety, History of the World, Part 1 and Young Frankenstein — wrote on Twitter.
“Every time I hear a horse whinny I will forever think of Cloris’ unforgettable Frau Blücher,” he added of her Young Frankenstein role. “She is irreplaceable, and will be greatly missed.”
