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While she may have had decades of experience working as an actress, Jessica Walter is best known for her portrayal of the ultimate crappy mother in shows like Arrested Development and Archer. With Walter recently passing at the age of 80, multiple tributes have come out to her from her co-stars and past collaborators.
Here are posts from her Arrested Development co-stars:
R. I. P. Jessica Walter. What an incredible career, filled with amazing performances. I will forever remember my time with her, watching her bring Lucille Bluth to life. She was one of a kind. All my love and thoughts to her family.
— Jason Bateman (@batemanjason) March 25, 2021
What a brilliant, funny, intelligent and strong woman. RIP Jessica Walter, and thank you for a lifetime of laughs and for sharing your incredible talent on our show and with the world. #jessicawalter
— Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) March 25, 2021
Jessica Walter was a deeply talented person
We first met on a pilot in ‘96 and I was instantly blown away
I’m fortunate to have had a front row seat to her brilliance for 25 years
My thoughts are with her daughter Brooke and grandson Micah today
Farewell Jessica, you’ll be missed— Will Arnett™ (@arnettwill) March 25, 2021
She was a force, and her talent and timing were unmatched. Rest In Peace Mama Bluth. pic.twitter.com/wJeOeJleR3
— Tony Hale (@MrTonyHale) March 25, 2021
I just heard the shitty news about Jessica Walter an absolutely brilliant actress and amazing talent. I consider myself privileged and very lucky to have been able to work with her. Lucille Bluth is one of TV's greatest characters
— david cross✍ (@davidcrosss) March 25, 2021
Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz also tells Variety about Walter:
“I’m stunned and so very sad to hear this news. Jessica was one of the sharpest, funniest people I’ve ever worked with — and I’ve been incredibly fortunate in working with some true greats. She was, to me, the best kind of comic actor — one who’s fearless in her willingness to draw upon the, shall we say, less desirable aspects of our character that, well … make us funny. She effortlessly sunk her teeth into depicting a type of mother that, given how people related to her, must be more common than is usually celebrated.”
Besides Lucille Bluth, Walter had also played the equally sharp-tongued (but vastly more competent) Mallory Archer in FX’s animated Archer. Show creator Adam Reed also shared in a statement (via IndieWire):
“The ‘Archer’ family is heartbroken to lose Jessica Walter, our beloved colleague and friend. Jessica was a consummate professional, an actor’s actor, and the exact opposite of Malory Archer — warm, caring, and kind, with an absolutely cracking sense of humor — and it was both a privilege and a true honor to work with her over these many years. She will be greatly missed, but never forgotten.”
https://twitter.com/aishatyler/status/1375173348309798923
Jessica Walter was an unparalleled talent. So funny. So insanely good in everything she was in. Wonderful to be around. I will miss her.
— h. jon benjamin (@HJBenjamin) March 25, 2021
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Multiple other sites like Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone have written pieces on Walter, and she truly is a celebrated actress, and now icon of snarky TV moms. No doubt she has definitely left a legacy worth remembering behind.
