Conchata Ferrell dies: Emmy-nominated Two and a Half Men star was 77

TVLine

Ferrell died Monday as a result of complications following a cardiac arrest. The actress was hospitalized last December for a kidney infection. In May, she was hospitalized again, during which time she suffered a heart attack. Ferrell earned two Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series nominations, in 2005 and 2007, for her role as no-nonsense housekeeper Berta on Two and a Half Men. She also earned an Emmy nomination for her role as Susan Bloom on L.A. Law. Ferrell had numerous TV credits, with guest roles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Friends, Who’s the Boss?, Night Court and a reunion with Two and a Half Men alum Ashton Kutcher on The Ranch. Ferrell also appeared in famous movies like Network, Edward Scissorhands and Erin Brockovich. "She was a beautiful human," tweeted Jon Cryer in a lengthy Twitter tribute. "Berta’s gruff exterior was an invention of the writers. Chatty’s warmth and vulnerability were her real strengths. I’m crying for the woman I’ll miss, and the joy she brought so many. I remember her first day on 2 1/2 Men. It was our second episode and I felt so lucky that they’d been able to cast her on the show. I gushed to her about what a fan i was of hers and she simply refused to believe it...I’m glad that I absolutely knew how fortunate I was to share a stage with her. I treasured every moment and will continue to until we meet again. I have a feeling she’ll call me 'Zippy.'" Two and a Half Men co-creator Chuck Lorre called Ferrell a "rock" through the show's long run. “We called her Chatty. And we all loved her,” Lorre said in a statement. “Twelve years of highs and lows, and lots and lots of laughter. Through it all she was a rock. One of the greats. I was privileged to call her a friend.” Fellow Two and a Half Men co-creator Lee Aronsohn remembered Ferrell as “a warm, wonderful woman who was always a joy to be around on set.” On Twitter, Charlie Sheen remembered Ferrell as "an absolute sweetheart, a consummate pro, a genuine friend," adding that her death was "a shocking and painful loss." He added: "Berta, your housekeeping was a tad suspect, your ‘people’ keeping was perfect.” In a 2014 interview with The A.V. Club, Ferrell recalled her audition. "I think they wanted her to be the ethnic character," she said. "They asked me to come with an Eastern European accent. I liked the material very much. I love playing women who have the nerve to do things that I don’t have the nerve to do, and Berta is certainly one of those. So I worked it like they wanted, but I also worked it in my own voice, and I thought to myself, 'You know, this really works better for me in my own voice, so what I ought to do is ask them if I can do it both ways.' So I planned on that. And then I got there, and there were 32 women auditioning for this role. It was supposed to be a two-part arc, and my character was going to quit because Alan and the boy were moving in. So, anyway, I looked around, and I thought, 'My God, they are never going to listen to this twice.' But then I thought, 'If you want this role, go in there and do it the best you possibly can… and the best I possibly can do is in my voice.' So I went into the room, and I said, 'I know that you’re looking for, like, a Russian or a Polish accent, and I’ve got a pretty good Russian. However, I bring my own ethnicity to this, and I’ve worked this material. It works better in Trailer Park than it does in anything else.'...And it turned out that he really liked the idea of this woman being a trailer-park person."