Markie Post, ‘Night Court’ Actress, Dies at 70

By Michael Haskoor @Tweetskoor
Published Aug. 8, 2021, 11:42 a.m. ET

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Actress Markie Post, who is best known for her roles in Night Court, There’s Something About Mary, Hearts Afire and more, died on Saturday at the age of 70. Post was in the grips of a three year, ten month battle with cancer, according to her manager Ellen Lubin Sanitsky.

The celebrated star was born on November 4, 1950 in Palo Alto, California. She first became involved in entertainment by working on creative teams behind game shows such as Split Second and Alex Trebek’s Double Dare. She first appeared before a camera as a card dealer on NBC’s Card Sharks.

She later appeared on episodes of CHiPs, Barnaby Jones, The Incredible Hulk, The Lazarus Syndrome, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and Hart to Hart.

Post was perhaps most famous as a series regular on NBC’s Night Court, portraying public defender Christine Sullivan for 159 episodes between 1985 and 1992. She grew her fan base even further with her role as Georgie Anne Lahti Hartman in CBS’ sitcom Hearts Afire, in which she starred opposite John Ritter.

Later in her career, Post recurred on Scrubs, as the mother of Dr. Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke), as well as Chicago P.D. in addition to other shows.

As far as movies go, Post played Mary’s (Cameron Diaz) mom in 1998’s There’s Something About Mary from Peter and Bobby Farrelly’s classic comedy.

Although Post was understandably set back by her unfortunate diagnosis, she remained determined to continue acting as “a side job.” While undergoing chemo treatments, she acted in the Lifetime Christmas movie Four Christmases and a Wedding as well as the ABC series The Kids Are Alright.

“But for us, our pride is in who she was in addition to acting; a person who made elaborate cakes for friends, sewed curtains for first apartments and showed us how to be kind, loving and forgiving in an often harsh world,” said her family in a statement.

Her husband, writer Michael A. Ross (who has a five-month-old granddaughter) along with her daughters, actress Kate Armstrong Ross and Daisy Schoenborn, son-in-law Bryce Schoenborn are currently planning a memorial service, though specific details are not available at this time.

Michael is a music and television junkie keen on most things that are not a complete and total bore. You can follow him on Twitter — @Tweetskoor