Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
More On:
Nomadland
-
A Frequently Shirtless Justin Hartley Brings The Beefcake To 'Tracker' — But He's Still The Loneliest Procedural Protagonist on CBS
-
Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’ and ‘Little Women’ Best Director Snubs Are Sexist, End Of Story
-
Stream It Or Skip It: 'Dog' on VOD, Channing Tatum's Shamelessly Sentimental Man-and-Dog Odd-Couple Dramedy
-
When The Oscars Got It Right: A Decade-By-Decade Look at the Best "Best Picture" Winners
Melissa Yandell Smith, an actress who starred in Chloé Zhao‘s Best Picture-winning Nomadland and helmed San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theatre for 25 years, has died. She was 64.
The entertainment figurehead passed away on Sapt. 7 at her home in San Francisco. Her death was announced by the American Conservatory Theatre, per Deadline.
Smith has been lifelong friends with Frances McDormand since their days at the Yale School of Drama together in the late 1970s. The actress made a late-career film debut opposite McDormand in Nomadland, starring as the lead actress’ sister Dolly. The film went on to receive a number of notable accolades, including top prizes like Best Picture at the Academy Awards earlier this year.
She served as Conservatory Director at A.C.T. from 1995 until declining health issues made her depart in December 2020. During her time at A.C.T., she redesigned and maintained the conservatory’s internationally recognized Master of Fine Arts program.
Before San Francisco, Smith lived in New York and taught at The Honolulu Youth Theater in Hawaii and at the SUNY, Purchase Youth Theater in Purchase, New York.
While enrolled at the Yale School of Drama, Smith also co-starred with actress Glenn Close in a Yale Repertory Theater’s production of Uncle Vanya.
Smith is survived by her husband, actor Warren David Keith (The Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona), whom she met while they were both studying at Yale, as well as her son Owen and other family members.
