Dallas star Priscilla Pointer, who played the mother of one of the two main feuding families on the 1980s soap opera, has died aged 100.
Her passing was announced this Tuesday by her actress daughter Amy Irving, who was married to Steven Spielberg from 1985 to 1989.
Amy broke the news on Instagram, writing that her mother had ‘died peacefully in her sleep’ on Monday, ‘hopefully to run off with her 2 adoring husbands and her many dogs. She most definitely will be missed.’
Priscilla’s son David Irving shared that his mother ended her days at an assisted living facility in Ridgefield, Connecticut, via The Hollywood Reporter.
She appeared on a string of beloved TV series ranging from The A-Team and The Flash to L.A. Law and Judging Amy to E.R.
In addition to her television work, Priscilla also featured in a number of classic movies, including Blue Velvet, Carrie and Mommie Dearest.
Dallas star Priscilla Pointer, who played the mother of one of the two main feuding families on the 1980s soap opera, has died aged 100; pictured 1994
Her Dallas role was Rebecca Wentworth, an oil tycoon’s wife who turns out to be the long-lost mother of Cliff (Ken Kercheval) and Pam (Victoria Principal) Barnes.
The primetime soap began by highlighting the contrast between the wealthy Ewing family and the poorer Barnes family – a dynamic that gets dramatically upended by the revelation that Cliff and Pam had a rich mother all along.
Fans may also remember Priscilla from David Lynch’s 1986 thriller Blue Velvet, in which she played the mother of Kyle MacLachlan’s lead character Jeffrey.
Priscila Marie Pointer was born to two artists in New York City in 1924, and by the 1940s she was an actress in her own right, principally in the theater.
In the 1950s she also had a supporting role on the show China Smith, a half-hour adventure series starring Dan Duryea as a mercenary in Singapore.
She withdrew from acting for several years to raise her three children David, 75, Katie, 74, and Amy, 71, whom she had with her first husband Jules Irving, a filmmaker and theater director who served as the artistic director of Lincoln Center for many years.
As her children grew older, Priscilla returned to work, featuring in a supporting role in Brian De Palma’s iconic 1974 thriller Carrie.
Priscilla played Mrs. Snell, the mother of the title character’s school bully Sue Snell – played by Priscilla’s real-life daughter Amy Irving.
Her family life was buffeted by tragedy in 1979, when her husband Jules suffered a heart attack and died at the shattering age of just 54.
