Sixty years in front of the camera is a long time for any individual, and for Jessica Walters, it was a time in which she found it possible to pick up quite a few roles, awards, and a great number of memories. With her passing, it’s safe to say that another light has gone out in Hollywood, but one thing that people can still depend on is the fact that she left behind a very impressive legacy of movies and TV show appearances that could make us laugh, make us feel the terror that her character was feeling, or just enjoy her for the great work that she did. Jessica’s career was one that a lot of people might not know that much about, or be able to recall right off the top of their head, but she was responsible for quite a few performances that helped to shape pop culture in her own way and are memorable to many people that can remember the characters below. It’s true that like many her act wasn’t always the most well-known among her fellow actors, but after six decades o being a part of show business it’s fair to say that this didn’t bother her much since she still went out and did her thing.
Here are five of Jessica Walters’s best performances.
5. Fran Sinclair-Dinosaurs
There were talks for a number of years that had to do with bringing this show back, but so far nothing has come from it for one reason or another. It could be that the show might be kind of spendy to bring back, but during the height of its run on TV, it was pretty funny since it employed some of the best voices for the various roles that were created for the show. Fran Sinclair had a lot to deal with between her kids and her husband but as silly as it was, she dealt with it all as any mother would no matter the time period. This show was actually pretty funny and it wouldn’t be a bad thing if it came back.
4. Amy Prentiss-Amy Prentiss
This role actually earned Jessica an Emmy, and it was well-deserved since the whole idea of the show was to depict a woman that had risen to a rank that wasn’t common to see a female taking. But on top of that, she still had to sort out her personal life and deal with the discrimination and crap that came from being a woman in her position. Some might want to say that this is still a problem in the current day and age, but what women deal with now, if anything, is far tamer compared to the overall discrimination that they had to put up with so long ago. Amy Prentiss had to weather far more than many women do today.
3. Evelyn Draper-Play Misty for Me
Her on-screen chemistry with Clint Eastwood helped to make this a memorable movie appearance as she was able to turn in a great performance that actually saw her nominated for an Oscar. She missed out on the award this time around, but at the very least it was a nod to her performance that said she’d done something great. The fact is that working with Eastwood wasn’t always easy and some women had actually found that he was kind of difficult. But Jessica managed to not only work with him, but she also became the high point of the movie, creating a role that many people still remember today.
2. Malory Archer-Archer
At some point in her career, Jessica started instilling comedy into her roles and it did wonders even though she was still a noted and very popular actress, not to mention reliable. But when she started taking on voice roles and read for this particular show it was found that her tone of voice and ability to help create this character was enough to get her the gig and to help make something that people would continue to watch. A lot of folks tend to think that the show started winding down after a while, but at the very least, Jessica and her fellow costars made it work for a while.
1. Lucille Bluth (Arrested Development)
A lot of people might agree that Lucille and Malory weren’t all that different when it came to their witty comebacks and the fact that they had a drink in their hands so often, but Jessica’s live-action role in this show was nothing short of comedy gold. Her relationships with various characters in the show usually felt like something that might make a person cringe or at least wonder just what she was doing, but she went about her own business without a care in the world and didn’t hold back when she had something to say, which was great.
She’ll be missed, there’s no doubt of that.
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