Photo : Mike Pont ( Getty Images )

Georgia Engel, the actress who turned a guest role on The Mary Tyler Moore Show into one of TV’s most familiar faces, has died at the age of 70, The New York Times reports. A cause of death is currently unknown.


Engel found fame as Georgette Franklin Baxter , the lovable, spacey girlfriend-turned-wife of Ted Knight’s Ted Baxter, on the hit series, scoring two Emmy nominations for her spirited, quirky turn. “It was only going to be one episode,” Engel told the Toronto Star in 2007 , “and I was just supposed to have a few lines in a party scene, but they kept giving me more and more to do.”

From there, her sweet, soul-warming air was put to use in shows like The Office, Coach, The Betty White Show, and Hot In Cleveland, as well as films like Grown-Ups 2 and the Open Season franchise . She was also a regular presence on Everybody Loves Raymond, earning three Ou tst anding Guest Actress nominations as Pat MacDougall, the mother-in-law of Brad Garrett’s character.


Engel was remembered on social media by a number of former colleagues— including Everybody Loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal and co-star Patricia Heaton—and fans like Lin-Manuel Miranda and James Urbaniak .


Advertisement