Sad news to report ILOSM family. Acting legend, Katherine Helmond, best known for her roles on the sitcoms, Who’s The Boss and Soap, has passed away at 89 years young.
The Tony Award winning actress succumbed to complications of Alzheimer’s disease, on February 23, 2019, according to the APA Agency. Her family waited a week -until Friday (3/1/19)- to announce her passing, presumably to give themselves privacy and time to mourn.
She is survived by her husband of 57 years, David Christian, and she had no children.
Katherine’s husband has now spoken out to pay homage to his beloved wife:
Via NBC Chicago– “She was the love of my life. We spent 57 beautiful, wonderful, loving years together, which I will treasure forever,” Christian said in a statement. “I’ve been with Katherine, since I was 19 years old. The night she died, I saw that the moon was exactly half-full, just as I am now… half of what I’ve been my entire adult life.”
Many of us Old Schoolers, were first introduced to Katherine when she played the comical, ditzy character, “Jessica Tate,” on the late 70’s/early 80’s sitcom, Soap. One of her longtime friends, Robert Guillaume, as well as actor, Billy Crystal, starred in Soap with her and they all cracked us up every week.
We also know her from her days on the late 80’s/early 90’s sitcom, Who’s The Boss, where she portrayed the feisty character, “Mona Robinson,” alongside her co-star, Tony Danza.
A few years before Katherine Helmond’s Soap co-star, Robert Guillaume, died in 2017, she and some of their other co-stars paid a touching tribute to him in the following video…
https://youtu.be/IICDpZdoGPQ
Now, millions of fans will be paying loving tributes to Katherine. She was a beautiful soul. Our deepest condolences go out to her family and loved ones at this time. May she rest peacefully.
