Melinda Dillon
Birthday:
Birthplace:
Not Available
Though best known for her intense, sensitive dramatic portrayals, Melinda Dillon first attracted attention as an improvisational comedienne. Her Broadway break came about when she played the hypertense Honey in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1962). Making her film debut playing a small role in The April Fools (1969). Since then Dillon has been Oscar-nominated for her portrayal of a mother whose young child is abducted by aliens in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and her performance as a suicidal grade-school teacher in Absence of Malice (1981). After seeing Melinda Dillon so often afflicted with trembling lip and moistened eyes, it was somewhat a relief to watch her return to comedy full-force on the 1971 TV revue series Story Theatre and as Peter Billingsley's overbearing mother ("You'll put your eye out!") in A Christmas Story (1983). Dillon continues working in a wide variety of feature films like How to Make an American Quilt (1995); she also occasionally appears in television movies such as Shattered Innocence (1984).
Photos
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
MOVIES
| RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | BOX OFFICE | YEAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100% | Close Encounters Of The Third Kind: 40th Anniversary Release |
|
$3.1M | 2017 |
| 64% | Reign Over Me |
|
$19.7M | 2007 |
| No Score Yet | Debating Robert Lee |
|
— | 2006 |
| 55% | Adam & Steve |
|
$0.2M | 2005 |
| No Score Yet | A Painted House |
|
— | 2003 |
| No Score Yet | Cowboy Up |
|
— | 2001 |
| 83% | Magnolia |
|
— | 1999 |
| 50% | Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story |
|
— | 1996 |
| 63% | How to Make an American Quilt |
|
— | 1995 |
| 41% | To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar |
|
— | 1995 |
| No Score Yet | Sioux City |
|
— | 1994 |
| No Score Yet | State of Emergency |
|
— | 1994 |
| 60% | Demolition Man |
|
— | 1993 |
| No Score Yet | Judgment Day: The John List Story |
|
— | 1993 |
| 70% | The Prince of Tides |
|
— | 1991 |
| 13% | Captain America |
|
— | 1990 |
| No Score Yet | Spontaneous Combustion |
|
— | 1990 |
| 80% | Staying Together |
|
— | 1989 |
| No Score Yet | Nightbreaker |
|
— | 1989 |
| No Score Yet | Shattered Innocence |
|
— | 1988 |
| 45% | Harry and the Hendersons |
|
— | 1987 |
| No Score Yet | Shattered Spirits |
|
— | 1987 |
| 100% | Songwriter |
|
— | 1984 |
| No Score Yet | Juggler of Notre Dame |
|
— | 1984 |
| No Score Yet | Right of Way |
|
— | 1983 |
| 89% | A Christmas Story |
|
— | 1983 |
| 81% | Absence Of Malice |
|
— | 1981 |
| No Score Yet | Fallen Angel |
|
— | 1981 |
| No Score Yet | The Shadow Box |
|
— | 1980 |
| No Score Yet | Marriage Is Alive and Well |
|
— | 1980 |
| No Score Yet | Transplant |
|
— | 1979 |
| 73% | F.I.S.T. |
|
— | 1978 |
| 94% | Close Encounters of the Third Kind |
|
— | 1977 |
| 85% | Slap Shot |
|
— | 1977 |
| 83% | Bound for Glory |
|
— | 1976 |
| No Score Yet | The April Fools |
|
— | 1969 |
TV
| RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | YEAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 45% |
Heartland
2007
|
|
|
| 78% |
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
1999
|
|
|
| 64% |
The Lyon's Den
2003
|
|
|
| No Score Yet |
Judging Amy
1999-2005
|
|
|
| No Score Yet |
Tracey Takes On...
1996-1999
|
|
|
| 82% |
Picket Fences
1992-1996
|
|
|
| No Score Yet |
The Twilight Zone
1985-1989
|
|
|
| No Score Yet |
The Jeffersons
1975-1985
|
|
|
| No Score Yet |
Bonanza
1959-1973
|
|
|
Quotes from Melinda Dillon's Characters
| Mother: | Randy....how do the little piggy's eat? |
| Mother: | Randy... how do the little piggy's eat? |
| Mother: | You'll shoot your eye out! |
| Randy: | I can't put my arms down! |
| Mother: | You can put your arms down when you get to school. |
| Jillian Guiler: | [on the police inquiring about her missing son] They asked me if I'd seen any strangers in the neighborhood. |
| Mother: | [at Ralphie in the pink bunny suit] Ohhh isn't that CUTE?!! |
| The Old Man: | He looks like a deranged Easter bunny. It's a pink nightmare. Are you happy wearing that, Ralph? |