Actress Conchata Ferrell, who had been ailing for months following a July heart attack, succumbed to the effects Monday, October 12, at Sherman Oaks Hospital in Sherman Oaks, California.
Deadline reports the veteran actress died surrounded by family and friends.
Ferrell is best remembered as salty housekeeper Berta on the phenomenally successful sitcom “Two and a Half Men” (2003-2015), for which she was twice Emmy-nominated. It was a role that she said was supposed to be a two-episode arc, and wound up stretching across more than 200 episodes.
Co-star Jon Cryer tweeted of her passing, “She was a beautiful human. Berta’s gruff exterior was an invention of the writers. Chatty’s warmth and vulnerability were her real strengths. I’m crying for the woman I’ll miss, and the joy she brought so many.”
Ferrell’s career in the medium stretched back to her debut on an episode of “Maude” (1974), the year before she was cast as a regular on the short-lived Norman Lear sitcom “Hot l Baltimore” (1975), based on the Lanford Wilson play in which she had appeared off-Broadway as an original member of the Circle Repertory Theatre.
The actress also played Susan Bloom on 20 “L.A. Law” episodes (1988-1992), garnering her first Emmy nomination, and was a regular or recurring character on such series as “Hearts Afire” (1992-1995), “Townies” (1996) and “The Ranch” (2017). In addition, she made numerous guest appearances on TV, specializing in comic Type A roles.
Born March 28, 1943, in Loudendale, West Virginia, Ferrell began performing on the stage in 1969 at college before segueing successfuly into TV. She also acted in a number of feature films, making impressions in the movies “Network” (1976), “Heartland” (1979), “Mystic Pizza” (1988), “Edward Scissorhands” (1990, and “Erin Brockovich” (2000).
Ferrell is survived by her husband of more than 30 years, Arnie Anderson, and her daughter Samantha.