Betty McGuire, ‘Growing Pains’ Actress, Dies at 100 — SkimNews
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- Betty McGuire died Oct. 8 at the Motion Picture & Television Fund's Wasserman Campus in Woodland Hills, Calif., of natural causes at age 100, with her power of attorney Keith Gerchak confirming her death.
- McGuire played Kate Malone, the grandmother to Joanna Kerns' Maggie, on ABC's "Growing Pains" for seven seasons, recurring in Seasons 1-2 and again in Seasons 4-7.
- McGuire's television career spanned decades and included guest or recurring roles on shows ranging from "Falcon Crest" and "The Doris Day Show" to "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," "Hill Street Blues," "ER," "CSI: Miami," "MacGyver," "Moonlighting," and "Charlie's Angels."
- McGuire appeared on the silver screen in "Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke" and Michael Crichton's "Coma," while her Broadway credits included original productions of "Plain and Fancy," "Happy Hunting," and "Oh, Captain!" alongside Ethel Merman, Barbara Cook, Bea Arthur, and Tony Randall.
- McGuire headlined as "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."
- McGuire later volunteered as a receptionist and tenant advocate at the Coalition for Economic Survival legal clinic in Los Angeles, helping low-income residents facing eviction.
- At the MPTF retirement community, McGuire hosted her own talk show called "GabFest" on Channel 22, the on-campus TV station; she had no survivors.
Why it matters: McGuire's seven-season run as Kate Malone made her one of the most recognizable TV grandmothers of the late 1980s and early '90s, and her death at 100 closes a career arc that bridged Golden Age Broadway touring, guest spots across iconic TV dramas, and later-life tenant advocacy in Los Angeles.
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