Edie McClurg

Did You Know?

• McClurg portrayed John Ehrlichman in Conversation 26 of NPR's national broadcast of the Nixon Tape transcript while working at KCUR-FM.
• McClurg made a cameo in the 2020 Family Guy episode 'Holly Bibble' as Grace, a spoof of her Ferris Bueller's Day Off character.
• She studied improvisation with Viola Spolin and became a player with the Spolin Players.

Early life and education

Edie McClurg grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, where her father was a mailman and her mother worked as an FAA secretary. Her older brother, Bob, was an actor and comedian. She spent twelve years in Catholic schools before earning a BA from the University of Missouri–Kansas City in 1967, then a master’s from Syracuse University in 1970. While at the university, she worked as a DJ, newswoman, and producer for the NPR affiliate KCUR-FM.

Career

McClurg’s path into show business started with a visit to her actor brother in San Francisco, where she was pulled into an impromptu Pitschel Players show. She joined the troupe, moved to Los Angeles, and later became a Groundling. There she worked with Paul Reubens on his first play, The Pee-wee Herman Show, playing Hermit Hattie in 1981, and appeared with fellow Groundling Cassandra Peterson in the 1988 film Elvira: Mistress of the Dark. Her first screen role was Helen Shyres in Brian De Palma’s 1976 horror Carrie.

She was a comedy regular on the Tony Orlando and Dawn variety show and a cast member of The Kallikaks and The Richard Pryor Show. In 1980 she played Mrs. Marv Mendenhall on The David Letterman Show. Over her career she appeared in nearly 90 films and 55 TV episodes, often typecast as a stubborn, dim-witted Midwesterner. Her TV roles included Lucille Tarlek on WKRP in Cincinnati, Willamae Jones in the Harper Valley PTA remake, Mrs. Patty Poole on The Hogan Family, Bonnie Brindle on Small Wonder, and Mrs. Beeker on 7th Heaven.

She guest-starred on shows like Alice, The Jeffersons, Diff’rent Strokes, Mr. Belvedere, Roseanne, Full House, Seinfeld, Melrose Place, Touched by an Angel, Married... with Children, Caroline in the City, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Malcolm in the Middle, Portlandia, Rules of Engagement, and Two and a Half Men. She also appeared on game shows including Match Game, The $25,000 Pyramid, Password Plus, and Super Password.

Personal life

In 2019, court documents were filed requesting a conservatorship for McClurg, citing neurological evidence of dementia and poor judgment. A conservator, her cousin Angelique Cabral, was appointed. In August 2022, the conservatorship's lawyer alleged that a man who had befriended McClurg, moved into her home, and become a court-approved caregiver had sexually assaulted her; a police report was filed. The judge granted an order of protection in September 2022.