‘Willy Wonka’ actress Denise Nickerson dead at 62
Denise Nickerson, best known for her role as Violet Beauregarde in “Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory,” has died at age 62.
Her family announced her death in a Facebook post that said, “She’s gone.”
Nickerson, who played the gum-obsessed Beauregarde in the 1971 classic movie, had been receiving round-the-clock care at home after suffering a severe stroke last year.
Her condition worsened this week after she “got into her medicines and took as much as she could,” her son Josh and his wife Jasmine wrote on a GoFundMe page.
The couple, who are expecting their first child in late August, announced on Wednesday that Nickerson was being taken off life support.
Born in New York City in 1957, Nickerson’s first major TV role was on fantasy-horror series “Dark Shadows.”
She was just 13 when she was cast as the brat-turned-blueberry Beauregarde opposite Gene Wilder in “Willy Wonka,” based on the children’s book by Roald Dahl.
After “Willy Wonka,” she went on to appear in several other TV movies and series in the 1970s.
Nickerson most recently worked as a receptionist at a doctor’s office, her family said.
“We will miss our Mom/Neecers,” Josh and Jasmine wrote on GoFundMe. “We’re sorry you couldn’t meet your granddaughter. We love you.”
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