Helen Slayton-Hughes, whose sly humor enlivened statehouse bureaucracy on Parks and Recreation, is dead at the age of 92.
Her family confirmed her death in a Facebook post on December 8th. “Helen passed away last night,” the statement read. “Her pain has ended but her fierce spirit lives on. Thank you for the love and support of her and her work.”
Born October 30th, 1930, Slayton-Hughes broke into Hollywood in the 1980 film Mafia on the Bounty when she was 50 years old. She became a sitcom staple with scene-stealing appearances in New Girl, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Arrested Development, Rutherford Falls, Fresh Off the Boat, That’s So Raven, and Parenthood, plus more dramatic parts on The West Wing and True Blood, and she also booked such movies as Good Night, and Good Luck, Shoot the Moon, Crazy on the Outside, Hersher, and Veronica Mars.
“I love doing drama, but I”m always hired to do comedy,” her family remembered her saying.
From 2011 to 2015, Slayton-Hughes played Ethel Beavers on 11 episodes of Parks and Recreation, where she became one of the most beloved figures on the now-classic comedy. As Beavers administered to the madness of the fourth floor, worked as a courtroom stenographer, supplied short-notice marriage licenses, and kept up a surprisingly busy sex life, Slayton-Hughes delivered punchline after punchline with witheringly dry wit.
Check out a video tribute from her loved ones, as well as a roundup of some of her best moments on Parks and Recreation, below.
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