Selma Helene Archerd (née Fenning; February 26, 1925 – December 14, 2023) was an American actress, known for her roles in ''

Die Hard ''Die Hard'' is a 1988 American action film directed by John McTiernan and written by Jeb Stuart (writer), Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza, based on the 1979 novel ''Nothing Lasts Forever (Thorp novel), Nothing Lasts Forever'' by Roderick ...

'' (1988), ''

Lethal Weapon ''Lethal Weapon'' is a 1987 American action film directed by Richard Donner and written by Shane Black. It stars Mel Gibson and Danny Glover alongside Gary Busey, Tom Atkins, Darlene Love, and Mitchell Ryan. In ''Lethal Weapon'', a pai ...

'' (1987) and ''

Lethal Weapon 3 ''Lethal Weapon 3'' is a 1992 American buddy cop action film directed by Richard Donner and written by Jeffrey Boam and Robert Mark Kamen. The sequel to ''Lethal Weapon 2'' (1989), it is the third installment in the ''Lethal Weapon'' film se ...

'' (1992). She mostly played background roles (saleslady, woman, customer, hostage, passenger) throughout her 27-year career in television and film.

Early life and career

Selma Helene Fenning was born on February 26, 1925, in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

,Ragan, David (1992).
Who's Who in Hollywood, 1900-1976, Vol. 1: The Largest Cast of International Film Personalities Ever Assembled
'. New York: Facts on File. p. 42. . See also: * Abcarian, Robin (March 21, 1999)
"Perfect Casting"
''Los Angeles Times Magazine''. p. 42. one of two children born to Charlotte Hurdus and A. Harry Fenning, a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

-based furrier who relocated with his family to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in approximately 1935. Selma attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

and was a member of

Alpha Epsilon Phi Alpha Epsilon Phi ( or AEPhi) is an American sorority and a member of the National Panhellenic Conference. It was the second Jewish sorority formed in the United States. History Alpha Epsilon Phi was established at Barnard College in New Yo ...

. Besides her many films, listed below, she played roles on television, including 25 episodes of

Melrose Place ''Melrose Place'' is an American prime-time television soap opera that aired on Fox from July 8, 1992, to May 24, 1999, for seven seasons. The show follows the lives of a group of young adults living in an apartment complex in West Hollywood, ...

as Nurse Amy. Other television roles included

The Brady Bunch ''The Brady Bunch'' is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz that aired five seasons from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on ABC. The series revolves around a large blended family of six children, with three boys and three gir ...

, Kolchak: The Night Stalker,

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Wilford Lloyd Baumes that originally aired on ABC from September 24, 1977, to May 24, 1986. In addition, three TV movies aired before the regular series pre ...

, Hotel,

Knots Landing ''Knots Landing'' is an American primetime television soap opera that aired on CBS from December 27, 1979, to May 13, 1993. A spin-off of ''Dallas (TV series), Dallas'', it was set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles and initially cente ...

, Marcus Welby, M.D.,

Roseanne ''Roseanne'' is an American television sitcom created by Matt Williams (producer), Matt Williams that originally aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from October 18, 1988, to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived from March 27, 2018, to May ...

, and

Cagney & Lacey ''Cagney & Lacey'' is an American police procedural drama television series that aired on the CBS television network for seven seasons from March 25, 1982, to May 16, 1988. The show is about two New York City police detectives who lead very dif ...

. She sometimes appeared with her husband on the game show

Tattletales ''Tattletales'' is an American game show produced by Mark Goodson, Goodson-Bill Todman, Todman Productions in association with Fremantle (company), Fremantle. The program had two runs on the CBS daytime schedule between February 1974 and June ...

Personal life and death

Her first marriage, to Howard M. Rosenblum, lasted from June 27, 1943, until their divorce in October 1968. They had two sons. The following year, on November 15, she wed entertainment columnist

Army Archerd Armand Andre Archerd (January 13, 1922 – September 8, 2009) was an American columnist for '' Variety'' for over fifty years before retiring his "Just for Variety" column in September 2005. In November 2005, Archerd began blogging for ''Variety' ...

,Alt URL
/ref> to whom she remained married until his death on September 8, 2009. Selma Archerd died in Los Angeles on December 14, 2023, at the age of 98.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1925 births 2023 deaths 20th-century American actresses American film actresses University of California, Los Angeles alumni Actresses from Newark, New Jersey {{US-film-actor-1920s-stub