Melinda Dillon, best known for ‘A Christmas Story’ role, dies at 83

Melinda Dillon, the actress best known for her performance of a loving mother in the holiday classic A Christmas Story, has died at age 83.

The two-time Oscar-nominated actress’ death was announced through an obituary created by her family that states the actress died on January 9 and was cremated.

The cause of her death has not been released yet.

Dillon, before taking on her most recognized role as the Parker family matriarch in 1983's A Christmas Story, began her career performing in the original 1962 production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which earned her a Tony Award nomination.

Dillon added to her theatre credits throughout the late '60s, appeared in Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which earned her the first of two Oscar nominations, with the second coming for her role in 1981's Absence of Malice.

Following her death on Friday, many paid tributes to the actress, including television writer Bryan Fuller, who tweeted, "Rest in power" for Dillon.