Actress Meredith MacRae, known to millions of television viewers in the 1960s and 1970s, died on July 14th, 2000, at her home in Manhattan Beach, California. The cause was complications from brain cancer. She was 56 years old. MacRae, born Meredith Linn MacRae on May 30th, 1944, in Houston, Texas,was the daughter of famed singers and actors Gordon and Sheila MacRae.
She began acting at age eight, appearing alongside her father in the 1953 film By the Light of the Silvery Moon. She later graduated from UCLA with a degree in English. first gained widespread attention as the girlfriend of Mike, the eldest son, on the sitcom My Three Sons, a role she played for three seasons from 1963 to 1965. She was perhaps best known for replacing Gilla Hutton as Billy Joe Bradley on the sitcom Petticoat Junction in 1966.
her film credits included Bikini Beach (1964), Ski Party (1965), Norwood (1970), Sketches of a Strangler(1978)and The Census Taker(1984). On television, she made numerous guest appearances on shows such as The Dean Martin Show, The FBI, The Rockford Files, Fantasy Island, Webster, Chips, Love American Style,and Magnum P. I. she was also a familiar face on game shows of the era, appearing on programs ranging from What’s My Line?
to Family Feud. In the 1980s,she hosted a talk show in Los Angeles for eight years, and she supported several charities, including the Children’s Burn Foundation and the American Cancer Society. MacRae’s personal life included three marriages. In 1964,she married Richard Berger, the former president of MGM; they divorced in 1968.
The following year, she married actor Greg Mullavy, known for his role on the soap opera parody Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. The couple had a daughter named Allison before divorcing in 1992. Her third marriage, in 1995, was to Philip Neal, a CEO for Avery Dennison. January 1999, MacRae began experiencing vertigo and a loss of short-term memory.
Initially, doctors attributed her symptoms to perimenopause. When she later complained of severe headaches,she was told they were muscle spasms. After seeking a second opinion,she was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer. During surgery to remove the tumor,she suffered a cardiac arrest but was resuscitated.
Although her cancer was terminal,she agreed to try an experimental drug, but suffered an allergic reaction that caused swelling of the brain. Additional operations were performed to relieve pressure on her brain. She also struggled with balance and suffered a fall that resulted in a fractured hip. Following her death, MacRae was cremated, and her ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.
She died 14 years after her father and 14 years before her mother.
