Betty McGuire, the actress best known for her role as grandmother Kate Malone on the ABC sitcom “Growing Pains,” died Oct. 8 at the Motion Picture & Television Fund’s Wasserman campus in Woodland Hills, Calif., of natural causes. She was 100 years old.
Keith Gerchak, McGuire’s attorney, confirmed his death.
McGuire starred for seven years on “Growing Pains” as Kate Malone, the mother of Joanna Kerns’ Maggie. She was a recurring character in seasons 1 and 2 and again in seasons 4 through 7.
In addition to “Growing Pains,” McGuire’s television career includes appearances on such shows as “Falcon Crest,” “The Doris Day Show,” “Columbo,” “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “Hill Street Blues,” “ER,” “CSI: Miami,” “MacGyver,” Moonlighting” and “Charlie’s Angels.”
On the big screen, McGuire appeared in feature films such as Michael Crichton’s “Cheech & Chong’s Up in Smoke” and “Coma.”
The actress also starred with notable Broadway names including Ethel Merman, Barbara Cook, Bea Arthur and Tony Randall in original productions of “Plain and Fancy,” “Happy Hunting” and “Oh, Captain!” She played the role of “Mame” at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and toured in productions of “Gypsy”, “Auntie Mame”, “Mame”, “Oliver!” “How to Succeed in Business…” and “The Ziegfeld Follies of 1956”.
Later in life, McGuire volunteered as a receptionist and advocate at the Coalition for Economic Survival legal clinic in Los Angeles to provide support to low-income tenants facing eviction. She was an active resident of the Motion Picture & Television Fund Home. On Channel 22, the retirement community’s campus television station, she hosted her own talk show, “GabFest.”
McGuire has no survivors.
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