Pleasant Actress Jill Clayburgh, dies

“Movie star Jill Clayburgh dies at 66

By Martin Weil

Washington Post Staff Writer 
Saturday, November 6, 2010; 3:22 AM

Jill Clayburgh, 66, a veteran movie, stage and television performer who described herself as shy but was known for portraying the strengths as well as the vulnerabilities of modern women in a way that won her a large and loyal following, died Friday at her home in Lakeville, Conn.

Her husband, playwright David Rabe, told the Associated Press that she had suffered for 21 years from chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Adept at demonstrating both intelligence and emotional texture, she was regarded as one of the first film figures to bring depth and subtlety to roles that reflected the sensibilities and attitudes of the growing women's movement.

A career highlight was her role as a divorced woman who begins to search out her options and opportunities in "An Unmarried Woman." That 1978 movie drew one of her two Academy Award nominations.

The other Oscar nomination came for "Starting Over" (1979), in which she suffered emotional wounds resulting from the psychic uncertainties plaguing the character played by Burt Reynolds.

Other well-known films included "I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can," in which a woman's success bred tranquilizer dependence, and "It's My Turn," in which she was remembered for projecting both intellectual brilliance and an agitated emptiness.”