Oscar nominated and Emmy winner EILEEN BRENNAN, who survived a harrowing ordeal, has gone to “The Last Picture Show” at 80.
Brennan perhaps best known for “The Last Picture Show” and “Private Benjamin” passed at her home from bladder cancer, her publicist told The Hollywood Reporter.
A familiar face across the film and TV landscape beginning as a regular on “Laugh In” during the 1960s Brennan played a waitress in the coming of age flick “The Last Picture Show” (1971) and also memorably appeared as a pal of con man Paul Newman in “The Sting” (1973).
She received an Oscar nom for best supporting actress playing hardball opposite Goldie Hawn in "Private Benjamin" (1980).
Eileen also reprised the role in the CBS TV spin-off that garnered the thesp an Emmy Award.
Among her many films include Neil Simon’s “Murder by Death" (1976) and “The Cheap Detective (1978), the road movie “Scarecrow” (1973), with Al Pacino and Gene Hackman; “Stella” (1990) with Bette Midler; “FM” (1978) and "Clue" (1985).
After dining with Goldie Hawn in October 1982, stepped into the path of an oncoming car, suffering multiple injuries and had her eyeball wrenched from its socket and broke multiple bones in her face.
The endless surgery to rebuild her shattered face and body led to an addiction to prescription pain pills as well as a dependence on antidepressants and antianxiety medication.
Despite having no feeling on the left side of her face and a steel plate in her leg, she bravely returned to acting in the ABC sitcom “Off the Rack” in January 1984.
A few months later she admitted she had addiction issues as well and entered the Betty Ford Center for six weeks of treatment.
“I had reached the stage where I was taking anything I could get my hands on,” she had admitted in an interview.
She recovered and endured until the last light flickered out at the picture show.
Au revoir, Eileen…
