Lucille Benson

Lucille Benson was an American character actress whose career began on the New York stage in the 1930s, with roles in Broadway plays such as Period of Adjustment and Happy Birthday. Her break in motion pictures came while she was performing with Donald O'Connor in Little Me during a run in Las Vegas; a call from a former Hollywood agent led to a Paramount screen test and her casting as Robert Redford's opposite in Little Fauss and Big Halsy (1970). For Steven Spielberg she ran a roadside Snakerama exhibit in Duel (1971) and appeared as a gas station owner in 1941 (1979). In Paul Bartel's Private Parts (1972) she took the rare leading role of Aunt Martha, and she was Rita Babtree in Silver Streak (1976). Her television work included a recurring part on The Ropers and Lilly Sinclair on Bosom Buddies, and she played Mrs. Elrod in Halloween II (1981). Benson died in 1984.