Jill Clayburgh Dead at 66: Oscar-Nominated Star Dies After Long Fight

Jill Clayburgh delivered a standout performance in the 1978 dramedy An Unmarried Woman, earning widespread acclaim—and an Academy Award nomination—for her portrayal of a woman rebuilding her life after divorce.

Later, she joined the ensemble cast of Bridesmaids, and they earned a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

She also had had a recurring role on Ally McBeal as Ally’s mother, Jeannie.

In 1999, Entertainment Weekly honored her as one of Hollywood’s Twenty-Five Greatest Actresses.

Personal life

As a teenager, Jill Clayburgh underwent two back-alley abortions—experiences she later shared in the 1991 book The Choices We Made: Twenty-Five Women and Men Speak Out About Abortion.

From 1967 to 1972, she was in a relationship with actor Al Pacino. In 1979, she married screenwriter and playwright David Rabe. They had two children: Michael and Lily, the latter following in her mother’s footsteps to become an actress.

How did Jill Clayburgh die?

The actress died at home in Lakeville, Connecticut, on November 5, 2010, surrounded by family. She was 66. Her husband, David Rabe, said the cause was chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a disease she had lived with for 21 years.