Mel Brooks, Ed Asner, Steve Martin and More Pay Tribute to Cloris Leachman: "She Was a Comedic Genius"

3:19 PM PST 1/27/2021 by Lexy Perez , Trilby Beresford

Cloris Leachman
Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images

The comedy legend passed away Wednesday at the age of 94.

Cloris Leachman, the Oscar-winning actress with a profile television career who collected two of her record nine Emmys for playing the quirky Phyllis Lindstrom on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, died Wednesday at the age of 94. Leachman died of natural causes Wednesday in Encinitas, California, according to her manager, Juliet Green.

The Iowa native was known for her hilarious turns in the Mel Brooks-Gene Wilder classic Young Frankenstein (1974) and on the TV shows Malcolm in the Middle and Raising Hope. Leachman is perhaps best known for playing Mary Richards' landlady Phyllis on the legendary CBS sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show and then on her own spinoff show in which her character moved from Minneapolis to San Francisco.

Following news of her passing, stars took to social media to pay tribute to the actress and "funny lady stole her way into our hearts."

Mel Brooks remembered Leachman as an "insanely talented" actress who could "make you laugh or cry at the drop of a hat."

Ed Asner shared a photo of himself with Leachman from the last time he saw her: "Nothing I could say would top the enormity of my love for you. Until we meet again darling," he wrote. 

"Salute to Cloris Leachman, who brought comedy's mysteries to the big and small screen," wrote Steve Martin on Twitter.

And Julia Louis-Dreyfus noted that her fellow Emmy record-holder’s "perfect performance as Frau Blucher had an enormous impact on my life." Adding, "She was sublime."

Read more tributes to Leachman below.