Who Are Cloris Leachman’s 5 Kids, and How Did Her Son, Bryan Englund, Die?
There have been plenty of great actors through the years, but few are as versatile as Cloris Leachman. Leachman is well known for her work on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, but that certainly wasn’t all she’d done. She’s also an Oscar and Emmy winner known for her excellence in comedy and drama.
Leachman died in 2021, but she’s survived by a number of children. Here’s who they are and what happened to her son, Bryan Englund, who died at 30 years old.
Cloris Leachman died at 94 years old
Leachman will forever be remembered for her contributions to Hollywood. Variety notes she died of natural causes at 94 years old, but her legacy will live on forever.
We can’t forget Leachman won two Emmys thanks to her role as Phyllis Lindstrom on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and her many roles after the fact won her numerous other awards, too. In total, Variety notes Leachman won eight primetime Emmys and one daytime Emmy.
Leachman excelled in film as well. She won an Oscar for her performance in The Last Picture Show, and she also gained critical acclaim for her roles in Lovers and Other Strangers, The People Next Door, and WUSA, just to name a few. Later in life, she competed on Dancing With the Stars at 82 years old, proving there’s nothing she wouldn’t try.
In 2011, she was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame, and she published her autobiography in 2009. Her ex-husband, George Englund, helped her pen the book as well.
Leachman is survived by 4 kids, many of whom are in show business
There’s no doubt Leachman will be missed by those who worked closely with her and watched her on both the big and small screen through the decades. But she also has a number of kids. Leachman had five children with George, whom she was married to from 1953 to 1979, Legacy reports. George died in 2017.
Dinah, Morgan, George Jr., and Adam Englund all survived Leachman. According to IMDb, Dinah was born in 1966 and followed in her mother’s footsteps with acting. She had roles in Titanic, Crazy Mama, and Death Sentence.
Morgan also grew up acting. He was born in 1963 and is best known for his appearances on Guiding Light, the soap opera that ran from 1952 to 2009, IMDb reports.
George Jr. went for a slightly different profession. IMDb notes he was born in 1957 and is a production manager and composer for film.
Finally, Adam was born in 1953, IMDb states, and he’s also known for acting in a number of films like Out of the Dark and Lady Avenger.
Because Leachman was so involved with PETA, Variety notes her kids suggest any fan donations should be made out to the company or to Last Chance for Animals.
Bryan Englund died at 30 years old
Leachman and George’s fifth son, Bryan, died at just 30 years old back in 1986. According to the Associated Press, Bryan was an aspiring actor just like his mom and siblings. Steven Vail, Leachman’s manager, said Bryan found very limited success with acting, though. “It’s very hard, and he wanted to do it on his own,” Vail said.
Bryan reportedly was found dead in his room at a YMCA. He was renting the room for several days, and he was found after a maid knocked on his door and received no response. The workers of the hotel ultimately opened the door and found him. It was suspected by police that he overdosed on medication for an ulcer. Sgt. Diane Kuebler said two bottles of medication were found in his room.
As for why Bryan was at the YMCA in the first place, it was reported he was staying with friends in New York for months, but friends had family visiting and needed the space. His stay at the YMCA was only meant to be temporary. Bryan was also married at the time to Pamela Pietri and had a daughter who was a year old.
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