What To Know
- Helen Siff, a veteran character actress known for roles in shows like Married… With Children and Will & Grace, has died at age 88 in Los Angeles due to complications from surgery.
- Her long career included numerous TV appearances, stage roles, and film parts, with her family praising her professionalism and ability to make even small roles memorable.
- Siff is survived by her children, grandchildren, and sisters, and was predeceased by her husband Marshall and son Bruce.
Veteran actress Helen Siff, who appeared in the likes of Married… With Children, Will & Grace, and Modern Family, has died. She was 88.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Siff passed away on Thursday (December 18) in Los Angeles, California, due to complications from surgery for a “long, painful illness.”
“Those who worked with Helen knew her not just as a talented performer, but as someone who brought professionalism, dedication and genuine kindness to every set,” Siff’s family said in a statement to THR. “She understood that every role, no matter how large or small, was an opportunity to contribute something meaningful to the story being told.”
Siff’s four-decade-plus on-screen career began in 1981 with an appearance in the CBS drama series Lou Grant. She’d continue to pop up in TV series throughout the 1980s, including roles in Cagney & Lacey, Silver Spoons, L.A. Law, Highway to Heaven, Simon & Simon, and Doogie Howser, M.D.
In the 1990s, Siff originated the role of Helga in a 1993 off-Broadway production of Grandma Sylvia’s Funeral. Her stage work also included roles in Lilies of the Field, Lost in Yonkers, and Over the River and Through the Woods.
She’d also continue to make TV appearances, starring in shows such as Knots Landing, Ellen, Dragnet, Sister, Sister, Mad About You, and a two-episode run on the hit sitcom Married… With Children.
Her roles in the 2000s included Spin City, Scrubs, Will & Grace, The Tracy Morgan Show, My Name Is Earl, and more.
On the big screen, Siff played a cashier in John G. Avildsen’s The Karate Kid (1984), a woman named Mrs. Skitzer in You Don’t Mess With the Zohan (2008), and a maid in the Coen brothers’ Hail, Caesar! (2016).
Her more recent roles include appearances in S.W.A.T., Mom, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Good Trouble, and High Desert.
“She had the rare gift of making even the smallest part memorable,” Siff’s family added.
She is survived by her sisters, Carol and Janet; her son, Matt; her daughters, Susie, Karen, Victoria, and Jenny; and her grandchildren, Chelsea, Zach, Robert, Josh, Spencer, Megan, and Dean. She is predeceased by her husband of 41 years, Marshall Siff, who died in 2007, and a son, Bruce, who died in 1999.
