Five-time Emmy nominee Georgia Engel, best known for her role as the charmingly innocent Georgette in the successful sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show, passed away on April 12, 2019. Engel’s friend and executor John Quilty told The New York Times that the cause was unknown, as Engel did not consult doctors due to her religious beliefs as a Christian Scientist. She was 70 years old.
Georgia Bright Engel was born on July 28, 1948, in Washington, DC. She graduated from the Academy of the Washington Ballet and earned her theater degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Engel appeared in musical productions with Washington’s American Light Opera Company before moving to New York City to appear in an off-Broadway production of Lend an Ear and a year-long tour as Minnie Fay in the Broadway production of Hello, Dolly! During an off-Broadway production of The Houde of Blue Leaves, Engel was seen by her soon-to-be employers Mary Tyler Moore and her producer husband Grant Tinker.
Engel was soon cast as the small-voiced Georgette, who was destined to marry Ted Knight’s pompous anchorman Ted Baxter, on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She starred on this sitcom from 1972 until its conclusion in 1977, earning two Emmy nominations along the way. Following the sitcoms end, Engel and former Mary Tyler Moore Show co-star Betty White for the first, and only, season of The Betty White Show. Engel went on to star on the short-lived sitcoms, Goodtime Girls and Jennifer Slept Here. She had recurring roles on the Coach, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, Passions and the long-running sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. This latter role earned Engel three consecutive Emmy nominations as outstanding guest actress in a comedy series from 2003-2005.
Outside of television, Engel starred in such films as Taking Off, The Outside Man, Signs of Life, Papa Was a Preacher, The Sweetest Thing, and the made for TV movies The Day the Women Got Even and A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story. Engel also lended her talents as a voice actress to the animated features The Care Bears Movie, Open Season, Open Season 2, Open Season 3 and Dr. Dolittle 2. In 2006, Engel returned to her stage roots to appear on Broadway in the musical The Drowsy Chaperone. She spent her summers appearing in various productions at The Muny Theater, including Show Boat, Mame, Oklahoma!, and The Music Man.
In her later career, Engel appeared in episodes of The Office, Two and a Half Men and even reunited with Betty White in the third season of Hot in Cleveland. Her final stage credits included the new Annie Baker play John, which won Engel the 2016 Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress, as well as the musical Gotta Dance. Engel's final credited television appearance came last year in the Netflix series One Day at a Time.
A list of survivors was not readily available.
