Tony-winning actress Carlin Glynn dies at 83

The Tony-winning star of “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” Carlin Glynn, had died at the age of 83.

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Glynn died at her home in upstate New York on July 13, according to The New York Times.

Glynn’s daughter, actress Mary Stuart Masterson, told the Times that the cause was lung cancer. Masterson confirmed the news of her mother’s death on Instagram, according to Variety.

“My mother, Carlin Glynn Masterson, passed away. I was with her. I will always be grateful for those last moments, no matter how hard,” Masterson wrote, according to Variety. “Death is like birth in the oddest way. From my first breath to her last. This thread is as fragile as it is strong. She was the most graceful clumsy person you would ever meet. Strong, smart, silly, intuitive, kind, generous, passionate and a deep listener. She was devoted to my father and to the enormous circle of students and collaborators who were considered her chosen family.”

Glynn’s breakout role came when she was 38 years old and starred in “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” the Times reported. Her husband, actor and director Peter Masterson, read an article in Playboy in 1974 by Larry L. King about the closing of a Texas bordello. Masterson reportedly saw a musical so he began working with King on a script and even brought Carol Hall in to help with the music.

Glynn at the time had been a stay-at-home mother for a few years and had worked on the play at first to help her husband out, according to the Times. The musical started off-Broadway in April of 1978 and was eventually moved to Broadway two months later.

The musical was Glynn’s debut Broadway role and she won a Tony for best-featured actress in a musical, the Times reported. The show was later adapted into a film in 1982 that starred Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton, Variety reported.

Glynn’s first on-screen role was in the film “Three Days of the Condor” in 1975, according to Variety. Other roles include playing Molly Ringwald’s mother in 1984 “Sixteen Candles,” and Meg Tresch in 1987 “Mr. President” She made also featured in a few television series including “A Woman Named Jackie,” “Strange Luck,” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.”

Glynn was married to Masterson from 1960 to when he died in 2018, Variety reported. She is survived by her three children, Mary Stuart, Alexandra, and Peter Masterson.

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