We have some sad news to report today, as Deadline has confirmed that actress Kathy Lamkin has passed away “after a short illness” at the age of 74. Lamkin’s family said,
Kathy will be missed by her family and friends, and left an impact on all she that encountered during her life on this Earth.”
Born on December 10, 1947, Lamkin earned her first screen credit on the 1990 comedy Good Girl, Bad Girl, where one of her co-stars included the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre‘s Edwin Neal. Over the course of a career that lasted just under thirty years, Lamkin had roles in forty-six features, shorts, and TV shows. Her credits include Gambler V: Playing for Keeps, Waiting for Guffman, The Life of David Gale, Malcolm in the Middle, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Nip/Tuck, The Astronaut Farmer, Medium, Bones, The Heartbreak Kid, My Name Is Earl, Psychic Experiment, and the films she’s best remembered for: No Country for Old Men, where her character the Desert Aire Manager shared a scene with Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh, and the 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, where she played the Tea Lady. She reprised the role of the Tea Lady in the 2006 prequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning.
When she wasn’t in front of the camera, Lamkin taught theatre arts at Codwell Elementary School in Houston. Deadline notes that she later created and ran such venues as the Unicorn School of Acting and USA Theatre.
She is survived by her husband of 52 years, Stephen L. Lamkin; her daughter Kati; her son Greg and his wife Jamie; and grandchildren Benjamin and Morgan. In lieu of flowers, her family asks that donations be made to The Actors Fund. The fund’s “services include emergency financial assistance, affordable housing, health care and insurance counseling, senior care, secondary career development and more.” Donations can be made at THIS LINK.
Our sincere condolences go out to Lamkin’s family, friends, and fans.
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