Caroline McWilliams (April 4, 1945 – February 11, 2010) was an American actress, best known for her portrayal of Marcy Hill in the television series '' Benson''. McWilliams had also appeared in nine episodes of its parent-series ''

Soap Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are us ...

'', as Sally. She was a regular on the CBS soap ''

Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...

'' (as Janet Norris) for several years and appeared in a short-term role (as Tracy DeWitt) on the NBC soap '' Another World''. She also had a recurring role on '' Beverly Hills, 90210'' playing the mother of

Jamie Walters James Leland Walters Jr. (born June 13, 1969) is an American actor and singer, best known for his roles on ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' and '' The Heights'' and singing lead vocal on " How Do You Talk to an Angel". Career Walters was born in Boston ...

' character, Ray Pruit.

Personal life

McWilliams was born in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

and grew up in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. She graduated in 1966 with a bachelor's degree from

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. She was married in 1982 to Michael Keaton, with whom she had a son,

Sean Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán ( anglicized as '' Shaun/Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan ( Ulster variant; a ...

. She and Keaton divorced in 1990.

Career

McWilliams's television appearances spanned every decade from the 1960s through the 2000s. She was a regular player on ''

'' as Janet Mason Norris from 1969 until 1975. She portrayed a prostitute who helped an immigrant stay in the country by marrying him for money on ''

Barney Miller ''Barney Miller'' is an American sitcom television series set in a New York City Police Department police station on East 6th St in Greenwich Village. The series was broadcast on ABC Network from January 23, 1975, to May 20, 1982. It was cre ...

'' in 1977. She was a semi-regular on ''

'' during the second season in 1978. She then appeared on '' Benson'' (as a different character) when that series premiered in 1979. She remained on ''Benson'' until 1981: the storyline stated that her character was departing to move away with her husband (her fiancé-turned-husband on the show having been played by

Ted Danson Edward Bridge "Ted" Danson III (born December 29, 1947) is an American actor. He achieved stardom playing the lead character Sam Malone on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'', for which he received two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. ...

). On stage, she appeared in the musical ''Boccaccio'', ''

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' is a three-act play written by Tennessee Williams. An adaptation of his 1952 short story "Three Players of a Summer Game", the play was written by him between 1953 and 1955. One of Williams's more famous works and his p ...

'', '' The Rothschilds'' and productions with the

American Shakespeare Festival The American Shakespeare Theatre was a theater company based in Stratford, Connecticut, United States. It was formed in the early 1950s by Lawrence Langner, Lincoln Kirstein, John Percy Burrell, and philanthropist Joseph Verner Reed. The Amer ...

in Stratford, Connecticut, and the New York Shakespeare Festival. After this, she made a number of appearances in television comedies and dramas, including '' Kojak''; '' Quincy, M.E.''; ''The Incredible Hulk''; '' $weepstake$''; '' Project U.F.O.''; '' Hill Street Blues''; '' Night Court''; ''

St. Elsewhere ''St. Elsewhere'' was an American medical drama television series created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey, that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982, to May 25, 1988. The series stars Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd, and William Daniels ...

''; '' Cagney & Lacey''; ''Sisters'' (two episodes); ''Home Improvement''; ''

Murphy Brown ''Murphy Brown'' is an American television sitcom created by Diane English that premiered on November 14, 1988, on CBS. The series stars Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news anchor for ''FYI'', a ...

'' and ''

Judging Amy ''Judging Amy'' is an American legal drama television series that was telecast from September 19, 1999, through May 3, 2005, on CBS. This TV series starred Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly. Its main character (Brenneman) is a judge who serves in a ...

'' (three episodes). In 1989, she portrayed the ghostly wife, Clair Pritchard, in the short-lived comedy series '' Nearly Departed''. She also appeared in numerous made-for-television movies, including ''The Death of Ocean View Park'' (1979), ''Rage!'' (1980), ''The Gift of Life'' (1982), and ''Sworn to Silence'' (1987). In 1982, she starred in '' Cass Malloy'', a CBS sitcom

television pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other dis ...

which aired as a one-off that summer but did not result in a regular series, although it served as the basis for '' She's the Sheriff'', which aired in

first-run syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States wher ...

from 1987 to 1989 with Suzanne Somers in the starring role. McWilliams appeared in two major motion pictures: *''

White Water Summer ''White Water Summer'' is a 1987 American drama film directed by Jeff Bleckner and starring Kevin Bacon, Sean Astin, Jonathan Ward, and Matt Adler. Plot Alan Block is a teenage city slicker with his whole summer planned out. That is, until h ...

'' (1987) – as Virginia Block *''

Mermaids In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...

'' (1990) – as Carrie

Illness and death

McWilliams died from

multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone pain, ...

at her home in Los Angeles, California, on February 11, 2010, aged 64.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McWilliams, Caroline 1945 births 2010 deaths Actresses from Rhode Island American Shakespearean actresses American television actresses Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from multiple myeloma People from Greater Los Angeles Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni 20th-century American actresses American film actresses Actresses from Seattle 21st-century American actresses American soap opera actresses American stage actresses