MORRIS : Goodbye dear Zelda...

Poltergeist. Poltergeist II. Poltergeist III. Teen Witch. Picket Fences. Southland Tales.

Just a few titles featuring the late, great Zelda Rubinstein.

Rubinstein, best known for her performance as psychic Tangina Barrons in Tobe Hooper’s (or was it!?) Poltergeist, sadly passed away this week. She was 76.

Having been a friend of Zelda’s for a couple of years now (here we are - L to R, myself, wife Tosia, Disney's Natasha Kopp, Zelda, and actor Christopher Showerman) pictured a couple of years back, sharing a great lunch in California) I can only say, what a sad, sad thing this is. She’s a divine person. A treasured soul. A wonderful actress.

I met Zelda through my producing partner, Christopher Showerman (George from George of the Jungle 2), who has been friends with Zelda for years. He drives her around, visits her regularly, and will essentially move heaven and earth to help her – and does... did. He last saw her on the weekend – shortly before she slipped away.

When Chris called late last year to let me know Zelda wasn’t doing well, my stomach dropped. I felt ill. For someone so strong in character and so solemnly brave to have to go through such a thing is just, well, depressing. Its life, sure, but it doesn’t mean we have to like it.

Zelda was a great storyteller. She knew anyone and everyone in Hollywood, and had some wonderful stories to share. She of course was always happy to talk about Poltergeist – speaking regularly about how the film was essentially Steven Spielberg’s (not Tobe Hooper’s), and constantly sung the praises of her co-stars. But mostly, Zelda was interested in what you were doing, and seemed totally unfazed by the whole Hollywood thing.

I’ll always remember this - My wife, always scared witless by Julian Beck’s performance as the evil ‘Kane’ in Poltergeist II, would jokingly always try and convince Zelda that her late friend - who sadly died from stomach cancer some years before - was so damn frightening in the movie that he could only be a demon in real life! My wife’s a bit of a tease, but Zelda loved it. It was quite an amusing back-and-forth between them. All in good fun.

And speaking of, if there’s one thing I’ll always remember about Zelda it was her wild vocabulary – she spoke pretty much like Tangina in the Poltergeist movies. Where one might say they’ve just ‘spoken’ or ‘been talking’ to a friend or an acquaintance, Zelda would say “I’ve been communicating with…” so-and-so. Love it.

Zelda hadn’t been well for a while. She was admitted to hospital late last year after suffering a 'mild' heart attack. Though the media falsely reported that she'd died last month, Rubinstein was still very much alive - and contrary to reports, her two major organs didn't give in. In the past week though, she took a turn for the worst.

I tell ya, she’ll be sadly missed. Rest in Peace, Dear.