‘Benson’ actress Inga Swenson dies at age 90

Actress Inga Swenson, who played Gretchen Kraus on the 1980s television sitcom “Benson,” has died at the age of 90, her son announced Friday.

Swenson died Sunday of natural causes in hospice care in Los Angeles, her son, Mark Harris, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Her career in television took off when she took on the role of Kraus on “Benson,” which aired on ABC from 1979 to 1986.

“Benson” was originally a spinoff of the popular sitcom “Soap,” in which Swenson’s Ingrid Svenson character enjoyed a multi-episode arc.

Swenson gave such a commanding performance, she was cast in a new role on “Benson” as a comedic foil for Robert Guillaume’s butler character. That role earned her three Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe nod.

Her TV career started in the late 1950s with appearances on “Playhouse 90,” and “Goodyear Playhouse.” Other guest appearances included “Dr. Kildare,” “Bonanza,”  and “Barnaby Jones.”

Swenson’s roles after “Benson” included the miniseries “North & South” and “Nutcracker: Money, Madness & Murder,” as well as appearances on the sitcoms “Newhart” and “The Golden Girls.”

She also appeared in two critically acclaimed 1962 films, “The Miracle Worker” and “Advise & Consent.”

Sweson was cast in 1963 as the spinster Lizzy in “110 in the Shade.” She received a Tony nomination for best actress in a musical for that performance. A year later, she landed a role in the Hal Prince-directed “Baker Street.”

In 1968, she portrayed Eliza in a revival of “My Fair Lady.”

Swenson was born on Dec. 29, 1932, in Omaha, Nebraska. She graduated from Omaha Central High School in 1950, then studied acting at Northwestern University.

In addition to her son, survivors include her husband, singer-actor Lowell Harris, and her granddaughter, Lily. Another son, James, died at age 26 in a motorcycle accident in 1987.

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