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Melinda Dillon (born October 13, 1939 in Hope,
Arkansas), is an United States|American actress
and comedienne.

Though best known for her sensitive supporting
performances, Melinda Dillon|Dillon got her start
as an improvisational comedienne and stage
actress. Her first major role came on Broadway in
1962 when she portrayed Honey in Edward
Albee|Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia
Woolf, for which she was nominated for a Best
Supporting Actress (Dramatic) Tony Awards|Tony
Award.

She followed her early Broadway success with her
first film, The April Fools in 1969. Playing
"Memphis Sue" opposite David Carradine, she was
nominated for the Best Female Acting Debut Golden
Globe Awards|Golden Globe for the 1976 Woodie
Guthrie bio-pic Bound for Glory. Melinda
Dillon|Dillon was nominated for a Academy Award
for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting
Actress Oscar for the role of a mother whose young
child is abducted by aliens in Steven
Speilberg|Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of
the Third Kind in 1977. Four years later she was
once again nominated for a Academy Award for Best
Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress Oscar
for her performance as a suicidal teacher in
1981's Absence of Malice, opposite Paul Newman and
Sally Field.

As a comedienne, she is perhaps best known for her
role as the compassionate mother of Ralphie in Bob
Clark|Bob Clark's 1983 A Christmas Story. The film
was based on a series of short stories and novels
written by Jean Shepherd and follows young Ralphie
Parker (played by Peter Billingsley) on his quest
for a rifle from Santa Claus. Five years later she
appeared opposite John Lithgow in the "Big Foot"
comedy Harry and the Hendersons. She continued to
be active in stage and film throughout the 1990's,
taking minor roles in the Barbra Streisand drama
The Prince of Tides, the low-budget Lou Diamond
Phillips thriller Sioux City, and the critically
acclaimed drama How to Make an American Quilt.

She has remained a private person, and information
about her personal life is largely unknown. She
was married briefly to character actor Richard
Libertini, with whom she had one child. In recent
years her career has waned. However, she took
notable roles in the critically acclaimed ensemble
drama Magnolia and the TV adaptation of John
Grisham|John Grisham's A Painted House in 2003.

==External links==
*imdb name|id=0227039|name=Melinda Dillon