by ot many people will know who I am talking about when I say that Sada Thompson has passed away at the age of 81. I am willing to bet not too many will remember the ABC television show “Family,” either.
I think it is somewhat fitting that I learned of her death on Mother’s Day. In my eyes, she portrayed one of the quintessential mothers in the history of television.
From 1975 until 1980, Thompson played Kate, the matriarch of a middle-class family unit in the Aaron Spelling drama, “Family.” The show quickly faded into the memories and the consciousness of the baby boomer generation, and has been seldom seen since, in spite of winning numerous awards and jump-starting the career of Kristy McNichol. I think that is a shame; I have fond memories of my family watching it as I was growing up. When the first two seasons were released on DVD in 2006 (which apparantly nobody bought), I was reintroduced to the superior acting and story arcs I could not fully appreciate as a kid.
Thompson, already an established star of the Broadway stage, portrayed Kate, the housewife and mother of three (later four) children living in Pasadena, Calif. Kate was a flawed character, alternating between a devotion to raising her children and a search for her own identity. In the changing social climate of the 1970s, the “housewife” was rethinking her role in society, and Thompson played this unfolding scene with an incredible amount of realism.
The three-dimensional character Thompson almost single-handedly created stands out even more today when compared with the sanitized “mother” roles of the 1970s and 1980s. Later, shows like “Malcolm in the Middle” and “Raising Hope” turned the television mom into a kind of “wacky idiot,” driving to the store with a forgotten baby on the roof of the car, or unintentionally selling her teenagers to drug lords, and yet somehow it all turns out okay in the end. Thompson, by comparison, gave viewers a glimpse into the soul of their mothers, neighbors, and friends who lived (and struggled to find a voice) in the real world.
Thompson always reminded me of my own grandmother, both in appearance and in mannerisms. Her death on May 4 reminded me how much of an influence on me and other family members my grandmother continues to be.
Check out a vintage clip from the show here!
Yes, the show (and sometimes even Thompson’s acting) was often cheesy and melodramatic, but then, real life is too, isn’t it
Miss Thompson truly deserves the “Mother’s Day tribute” for her oustanding work in all her acting roles. At first glance, she looks a little like the actress Maureen Stapleton. She was actually more lovable and respected than other actresses during her time and ordinary people who saw her performances, wanted to model after her extraordinary lifestyle. I really hope that more of her Dvd’s would include her photograph on their covers, so that the public would know that she is acting in those movies and would then want to buy them. I have been richly blessed seeing Sada Thompson grace the television with her angelic presence.