Melinda Dillon

Melinda Dillon

1939-10-13 Hope, Arkansas, USA 41 Credits

Biography

Melinda Rose Dillon (October 13, 1939 - January 9, 2023) was a twice Oscar nominated American actress. She was best known for her roles in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Absence of Malice and the holiday classic A Christmas Story.

Known For

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Complete Filmography

Hal

Hal

2019

as Self (archive footage)

6.5
Acting

Hal Ashby's obsessive genius led to an unprecedented string of Oscar®-winning classics, including Harold and Maude, Shampoo and Being There. But as co...

Reign Over Me

Reign Over Me

2007

as Ginger Timpleman

7.2
Acting

A man who lost his family in the September 11 attack on New York City runs into his old college roommate. Rekindling the friendship is the one thing t...

Adam & Steve

Adam & Steve

2005

as Dottie

5.5
Acting

Adam and Steve are two gay youths who have a one-night stand that ends embarrassingly. Nearly two decades later, Adam, now a Manhattan tour guide, and...

Debating Robert Lee

Debating Robert Lee

2004

as Mrs. Lee

6.3
Acting

A group of jaded high school students sign up for a debate class taught by a tough, combative teacher from the Georgia Military Academy who teaches th...

A Painted House

A Painted House

2003

as Gran Chandler

7.0
Acting

A young boy, his family, and the migrant workers they hire to work their cotton farm struggle against difficult odds to raise and sell the crop. Meanw...

Cowboy Up

Cowboy Up

2002

as Rose Braxton

5.9
Acting

"Cowboy Up" is a celebration of the risk-taking, daredevil personalities of modern rodeo. In the world of professional bull riding, newcomer Ely Braxt...

The Making of 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'

The Making of 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'

2001

as Self

6.9
Acting

A documentary film on the making of 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'

Magnolia

Magnolia

1999

as Rose Gator

7.7
Acting

On one random day in the San Fernando Valley, a dying father, a young wife, a male caretaker, a famous lost son, a police officer in love, a boy geniu...

The Effects of Magic

The Effects of Magic

1998

as Mom

1.0
Acting
Christmas Unwrapped: The History of Christmas

Christmas Unwrapped: The History of Christmas

1997

as Mrs. Parker (archive footage)

5.2
Acting

Christmas abounds with traditions, from neighborhood carolers to lovingly decorated trees, but from where did all these rituals emerge? This enlighten...

Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story

Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story

1996

as Sister Aloysius

4.8
Acting

The firebrand reporter, feminist and philanthropist Dorothy Day co-founds The Catholic Worker with Peter Maurin, an eccentric philosopher.

How to Make an American Quilt

How to Make an American Quilt

1995

as Mrs. Darling

6.4
Acting

Soon-to-be-wed graduate student Finn Dodd develops cold feet when she suspects her fiancé is cheating on her. In order to clear her head, Finn visits ...

To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar

To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar

1995

as Merna

7.4
Acting

Manhattan drag queens Vida Boheme and Noxeema Jackson impress regional judges in competition, securing berths in the Nationals in Los Angeles. When th...

Naomi & Wynonna: Love Can Build a Bridge

Naomi & Wynonna: Love Can Build a Bridge

1995

as Polly Judd

6.7
Acting

This is a true story about the relationship between a mother and her daughter, and their struggle to make it to the top in the music world. It is abou...

Sioux City

Sioux City

1994

as Leah Goldman

5.1
Acting

A young Lakota Sioux, adopted by a wealthy Jewish couple in Beverly Hills, gets in touch with his cultural roots and solves a mystery in this thriller...

State of Emergency

State of Emergency

1994

as Betty Anderson

4.0
Acting

Medical drama about a major hospital whose emergency room regularly faces an overload of patients. One of the doctors finds it necessary to adopt an u...

Confessions: Two Faces of Evil

Confessions: Two Faces of Evil

1994

as Carol Mothershed

5.0
Acting

Two men being questioned in a police station on Christmas Eve both confess to the murder of a cop. With both stories seeming plausible, an investigato...

Judgment Day: The John List Story

Judgment Day: The John List Story

1993

as Eleanor

4.5
Acting

The pious John List regularly goes to church and is respected by his neighbours. But one day the police finds his wife Helen and their three children ...

The Prince of Tides

The Prince of Tides

1991

as Savannah Wingo

6.6
Acting

A troubled Southern man talks to his suicidal sister's psychiatrist about their family history and falls in love with her (and New York City) in the p...

Captain America

Captain America

1990

as Mrs. Rogers

4.5
Acting

During World War II, a brave, patriotic American Soldier undergoes experiments to become a new supersoldier, "Captain America". Racing to Germany to s...

Spontaneous Combustion

Spontaneous Combustion

1990

as Nina

4.7
Acting

A young man finds out that his parents had been used in an atomic-weapons experiment shortly before he was born, and that the results have had some un...

Staying Together

Staying Together

1989

as Eileen McDermott

5.3
Acting

After their father abruptly sells the beloved family-owned restaurant that has employed them for years, the charismatic McDermott boys - hot-tempered ...

Nightbreaker

Nightbreaker

1989

as Paula Brown

6.4
Acting

Dr. Alexander Brown arrives in Las Vegas, awarded for his recent medical invention. An ex-G.I. tells Brown he was a test subject during the 1950's, ex...

Shattered Innocence

Shattered Innocence

1988

as Sharon Anderson

6.6
Acting

A high school graduate leaves behind her modest life and finds work in the sex industry, but it ends in disaster. A dramatized account of the life of...

Harry and the Hendersons

Harry and the Hendersons

1987

as Nancy Henderson

6.1
Acting

Returning from a hunting trip in the forest, the Henderson family's car hits an animal in the road. At first they fear it was a man, but when they exa...

Shattered Spirits

Shattered Spirits

1986

as Joyce Mollencamp

5.4
Acting

When his drinking problem takes control of his life, a father tries to leave the bottle behind while putting his and his family's lives back together.

Songwriter

Songwriter

1984

as Honey Carder

5.3
Acting

Doc Jenkins may be one of country music's most beloved stars, but his private life is a wreck. He's split up with his longtime partner, Blackie Buck, ...

Right of Way

Right of Way

1983

as Ruda Dwyer

7.3
Acting

Miniature Dwyer is named after her mother, who was making miniature doll houses when Minnie was born. Minnie, too, has built doll houses for years, an...

A Christmas Story

A Christmas Story

1983

as Mother

7.2
Acting

The comic mishaps and adventures of a young boy named Ralph, trying to convince his parents, teachers, and Santa that a Red Ryder B.B. gun really is t...

Absence of Malice

Absence of Malice

1981

as Teresa Perrone

6.6
Acting

Megan Carter is a reporter duped into running an untrue story on Michael Gallagher, a suspected racketeer. He has an alibi for the time his crime was ...

Hellinger's Law

Hellinger's Law

1981

as Anne Gronouski

7.5
Acting

A flamboyant criminal lawyer named Nick Hellinger takes on the case of a syndicate's accountant (actually a Justice Department agent who has infiltrat...

Fallen Angel

Fallen Angel

1981

as Sherry Phillips

6.4
Acting

Twelve year old Jennifer is unhappy with her widowed mom's relationship with a family friend. Feeling lonely, she readily accepts the friendship of an...

The Shadow Box

The Shadow Box

1980

as Agnes

5.2
Acting

Over the course of a day in a California hospice, three terminally ill patients are observed with their families reflecting on life and death.

Marriage Is Alive and Well

Marriage Is Alive and Well

1980

as Jeannie

2.0
Acting

A talented wedding photographer, at a crossroads with his own marriage, reflects on tales of past clients and the hope, adversity and romance that hol...

The Muppet Movie

The Muppet Movie

1979

as Woman with Balloon

7.2
Acting

The Muppets gather to watch their newly-finished big-budget rich-and-famous feature film: a talent agent persuades Kermit the Frog to leave the swamp ...

F.I.S.T.

F.I.S.T.

1978

as Anna Zarinkas

6.5
Acting

Johnny Kovak joins the Teamsters trade-union in a local chapter in the 1930s and works his way up in the organization. As he climbs higher and higher ...

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

1977

as Jillian Guiler

7.3
Acting

After an encounter with UFOs, an electricity linesman feels undeniably drawn to an isolated area in the wilderness where something spectacular is abou...

Slap Shot

Slap Shot

1977

as Suzanne Hanrahan

6.8
Acting

To build up attendance at their games, the management of a struggling minor-league hockey team signs up the Hanson Brothers, three hard-charging playe...

Bound for Glory

Bound for Glory

1976

as Mary / Memphis Sue

6.9
Acting

A biography of Woody Guthrie, one of America's greatest folk singers. He left his dust-devastated Texas home in the 1930s to find work, discovering th...

The April Fools

The April Fools

1969

as Leslie Hopkins

6.0
Acting

Newly-promoted if none too happily married Howard Brubaker leaves a rowdy company party early with the stunning Catherine, whom it turns out is hersel...

The Cry of Jazz

The Cry of Jazz

1959

as Faye

5.9
Acting

Filmed in Chicago & finished in 1959, The Cry of Jazz is filmmaker, composer and arranger Edward O. Bland's polemical essay on the politics of mus...