Dena Dietrich -- known to soap fans for her role as Natalie and Janet's mother, Wilma Marlowe, on All My Children -- has died. The actress was 91.
The daytime community is saying farewell to soap opera alum Dena Dietrich, who passed away at the age of 91 on Saturday at a health care facility in Los Angeles. A longtime friend of the actress confirmed her death of natural causes to The Hollywood Reporter.
Dietrich had a long career that included roles such as playing Bea Arthur's sister on Golden Girls and a hoodwinked Mother Nature in a decade-long series of Chiffon margarine commercials. However, soap opera fans will recognize her from her 1985 to 1986 role as Katie Wallace on Santa Barbara and her 1994 stint as All My Children character Wilma Marlowe, the mother of Pine Valley twins Natalie and Janet Marlowe (played by Kate Collins and Robin Mattson).
As AMC fans may recall, Wilma always seemed to prefer her more attractive and successful daughter Natalie and constantly verbally and emotionally abused Janet. Wilma's constant belittling of Janet became the source of many psychological issues that eventually led Janet to become delusional and paranoid (which earned her the nickname "Janet from Another Planet").
Born in Pittsburgh on December 4, 1928, Dietrich moved to New York in the late 1940s and studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where her classmates included Grace Kelly, Colleen Dewhurst, Jason Robards, and Anne Bancroft.
Some of Dietrich's Broadway and stage credits include Funny Girl, Here's Where I Belong, and The Prisoner of Second Avenue. Her film credits include The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder, The Wild Party, The North Avenue Irregulars, and Mel Brooks' History of the World: Part I.
In addition to AMC and Santa Barbara, the actress' TV credits include Adam's Rib, The Practice, Philly, Karen, Welcome Back, Kotter, The Ropers, Murphy Brown, It's Garry Shandling's Show, and NYPD Blue.
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