A Christmas Story actor Melinda Dillon passes away 

Close encounters of the Third Kind and A Christmas Story fame actor Melina Dillon passed away at 83 on January 9. The news came through a statement from her family recently, and there are no further details of her death. 

Melinda started her career by acting on Broadway. She is known for her performance as Honey in the original 1963 production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? She did some small roles in TV series such as Bonanza and The Jeffersons, before breaking through on the big screen with Bound For Glory in 1976. Bound for Glory was a biopic about singer Woody Guthrie. 

A two-time Academy award-nominee, Melinda first bagged her Oscar nomination for her role as Jillian in Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. She got nominated once again for her performance in Paul Newman's Absence of Malice. 

In A Christmas Story, Melinda played the loving yet stressed-out mother. Although she couldn't make it back for the sequel, A Christmas Story Christmas, she was an integral part of the family as Mrs Parker.

Her other notable performances include Harry and the Hendersons, To Wong Foo, and Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, The Prince of Tides, The Twilight Zone, F.I.S.T., and Anderson's Magnolia. She retired in 2007, closing out her career with turns in the film Reign Over Me and in three episodes of the series, Heartland.