Actress Hope Lange Dies at Age 70 in California

Lange, whose career in film, theater and television spanned more than five decades and included films with Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando and Elvis Presley, died on Friday night of an intestinal infection at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California.

She became ill suddenly about two weeks before her death, her son, actor Christopher Murray, said.

"She had a wonderful, wonderful life right up to the end," said Murray, who appeared with Lange in her last film, "Just Cause" in 1995. The film starred Sean Connery, Laurence Fishburne and Kate Capshaw.

Lange made her film debut in the 1956 film "Bus Stop" starring opposite her first husband Don Murray, the father of Christopher Murray, and Marilyn Monroe.

For that film, Monroe insisted that Lange die her naturally blond hair light brown "because she didn't want another beautiful blond with her in the film," Don Murray told Reuters. He added that the gesture was in Monroe's favor because "she could have very easily had her fired."

Lange earned the only Oscar nomination of her career for her supporting role in the provocative 1957 film "Peyton Place" in which she played an incest victim who murders her rapist father.

The actress co-starred with Elvis Presley in the 1961 film "Wild in the Country," Marlon Brando in the 1958 film "Young Lions" and Joan Crawford in the 1959 film "The Best of Everything" -- Lange's favorite film of her career.

LANGE TURNS TO TELEVISION

In 1968, Lange turned to television, taking on the role of Carolyn Muir in the popular series "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. She won two consecutive Emmys for that role in 1969 and 1970.

Lange, who preferred comedic roles, next played Jenny Preston, the wife of Dick Van Dyke, in "The New Dick Van Dyke Show," which ran from 1971 to 1974.

The actress returned to film as Charles Bronson's wife in 1974's "Death Wish" and Laura Dern's mother in the 1986 film "Blue Velvet." She also played a senator in 1994's "Clear and Present Danger" starring Harrison Ford.

Lange, who was 12 when she appeared in her first Broadway play -- Sidney Kingsley's "The Patriots" -- returned to Broadway in 1977, co-starring with ex-husband Murray in "Same Time Next Year."

Lange was married three times -- to Murray from 1956 to 1961, to director and producer Alan Pakula from 1963 to 1971 and to theatrical producer Charles Hollerith from 1986 until her death.

Lange's family said the actress was a private person who shied away from Hollywood parties and always made her family a priority. "She was a dedicated actress who was also very much a family person. She never cared about being in the public eye outside of her work," said ex-husband Murray.

In 1956, Lange co-founded the Homeless European Land Program, a private initiative aimed at resettling Eastern European refugees on the Italian island of Sardinia.

For two years, Lange lived in a sparsely furnished home with crates for coffee tables and only a box spring and mattress for her bed. "She put all her money into the refugee project because that is the kind of person she was," Don Murray said.

Lange is survived by her husband, two children from her first marriage -- Christopher and Patricia Murray -- and two grandchildren.