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Betsy Palmer, who starred as Mrs. Voorhees in the original Friday the 13th and its sequel, died on Friday at 88.
Betsy Palmer died of natural causes at a hospice care centre in Connecticut, her longtime manager Brad Lemack said on Twitter.
Betsy Palmer had appeared in films, on Broadway and in TV shows for decades before she took the role of Pamela Voorhees in the cult 1980 movie in which young counsellors at a summer camp with a dark history are picked off by a bloodthirsty killer.
The back story was that she was the mother of Jason Voorhees, who had died at the camp years before – but came back to life in several sequels that did not feature Palmer.
She would say in later years that she only took the role in that first film because she wanted money to buy a new car.
Betsy Palmer had appeared in TV shows throughout the early 1950s Golden Age of Television.
Among them were classic dramas including Kraft Theatre, Playhouse 90 and Studio One.
Her film credits included Mr Roberts with Henry Fonda, The Long Gray Line with Tyrone Power and Maureen O’Hara, Queen Bee with Joan Crawford, and The Tin Star with Fonda and Anthony Perkins.
Other TV credits included Knot’s Landing, The Love Boat, Newhart, Just Shoot Me and Murder, She Wrote.
She also appeared in several Broadway plays, including Same Time, Next Year and Cactus Flower.
Betsy Palmer, who died last Friday, is survived by her daughter, Melissa Merendino.
Agencies/Canadajournal
