Vanessa Marquez, who starred as Nurse Wendy Goldman on the first three seasons of the hit show “ER,” has been declared dead after a bizarre shootout with police in South Pasadena, Calif. Police report that they had been summoned to Vanessa’s home there for a welfare check, and were accompanied by a mental health worker. A police spokesperson said that the officers shot and killed the “extremely uncooperative” 49-year-old actress after she threatened them with a BB gun designed to resemble a handgun. The troubled star had spent her final years working sporadically, and claimed on social media that she was suffering from celiac disease, a pulmonary embolism, osteoporosis, and other afflictions of a weakened immune system. Her death comes less than a year after Vanessa shocked Hollywood with a bizarre rant accusing George Clooney of leading a cover-up over sexual harassment on the “ER” set.
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Vanessa, who was a regular for the first three seasons of NBC's hit medical drama, went to social media to issue a rambling statement, including an accusation that: "Clooney helped blacklist me when I spoke up about harassment on 'ER.'" Clooney, however, quickly responded to the claims.
Photo credit: Getty Images
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“I had no idea Vanessa was blacklisted,” the star told
RADAR Online in a statement, adding: “I take her at her word. I was not a writer or a producer or a director on that show. I had nothing to do with casting. I was an actor and only an actor. If she was told I was involved in any decision about her career, then she was lied to.”
Vanessa, who was a regular for the first three seasons of NBC's hit medical drama, went to social media to issue a rambling statement, including an accusation that: "Clooney helped blacklist me when I spoke up about harassment on 'ER.'" Clooney, however, quickly responded to the claims.
Photo credit: Getty Images
“I had no idea Vanessa was blacklisted,” the star told
RADAR Online in a statement, adding: “I take her at her word. I was not a writer or a producer or a director on that show. I had nothing to do with casting. I was an actor and only an actor. If she was told I was involved in any decision about her career, then she was lied to.”
