The very sad news has come that Zelda Rubinstein has died aged 76. The 4ft 3in actress became a cult legend following her role as Tangina in the 1982 movie, Poltergeist. Playing the woman brought in to help the Freelings deal with their supernatural problems, she was both reassuring and eerie, ensuring that what could have seemed a very silly film was instead both creepy and immensely entertaining.
Here speeches about what the spirits are up to, and proclamations such as ‘This house is clean’, are amongst the most famous parts of the film.
Rubinstein never really escaped her role in Poltergeist, and spent much of the rest of her career playing characters that riffed on Tangina’s eerie qualities. She starred in both Poletergeist II and II, as well as movies like Teen Witch, Timemaster, Southland Tales and Sixteen Candles.
The actress had been ill for a while. It’s said she had a major heart attack last month, and was on a life support machine after another of her organs failed. However while friends had suggested a coupld of weeks ago that she was on the mend, the decision was eventually taken to take her off artificial support.
Rubinsten was also an activist for HIV and AIDS awareness, as well as speaking out for the rights of little people.
Zelda Rubinstein – May 28th, 1933-January 27th, 2009 – RIP
(Source: THR)