From left: Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, Ian Petrella and Peter Billingsley inA Christmas Story(1983).Photo: MGM/Everett
Peter Billingsleyis remembering his onscreenA Christmas Storymom, Melinda Dillon.
Alongside a black-and-white photo of himself with his originalA Christmas Storyfamily, Billingsley, 51, wrote, “So very sad to hear of Melinda Dillon’s passing. Working with her on ‘A Christmas Story’ was such a privilege.”
The actor and filmmakerremembered Dillon as"kind, supportive, cool, thoughtful, giving and committed," adding, “Her body of work demonstrated her incredible range and talent.”
“I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to call her my on-screen mother. Rest in peace, Melinda,” Billingsley concluded.
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From left: Peter Billingsley, Darren McGavin, Ian Petrella and Melinda Dillon inA Christmas Story(1983).Mgm/Ua/Kobal/Shutterstock
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Before she became the matriarch of the Parker family, Dillon was an established actress onBroadwayand in Hollywood. She was nominated for twoAcademy Awards, for her performances inSteven Spielberg’sClose Encounters of the Third Kind(1977) andAbsence of Malice(1981).
She was also up for aGolden Globein 1976, for her role in theWoody GuthriebiopicBound for Glory, and considered for aTony Awardwith her Broadway debut in 1963’s original production ofWho’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Dillon retired from acting in 2007, but not before taking on a few more major roles. After warning Ralphie he’d “shoot his eye out” with his Red Ryder BB gun, the actress went on to costar withJohn LithgowinHarry and the Hendersons(1987) and appeared inPaul Thomas Anderson’sMagnolia(1999).
Dillon also garneredadditional television creditsin the early 2000s with appearances inLaw & Order: Special Victims UnitandHeartland.
A Christmas Story Christmas(2022).Yana Blajeva/Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures and HBO Max
Back in October, Billingsley told PEOPLE that the sequel was very much a tribute tothe original cast, including Dillon’s husband in the movie, McGavin, who died in 2006, also at age 83.
“It very much is, in many ways, alove letter to the Old Mancharacter and to Darren himself,” Billingsley said at the time. “Darren was the best. He was such a gifted actor and a great person and such a mentor to me inthe shooting of the first film, and was kind of like having [another] dad.”
source: people.com
