Cloris Leachman Miscarried & Got Call From Husband’s A-List Star Mistress at 4 AM: ‘I Felt Simply Awful’

Late Cloris Leachman met her only beloved husband, George Englund, through his sister Patsy. Leachman was fond of her future sister-in-law because she was not easily intimidated by those in authority and was a straightforward person.

Veteran actress Cloris Leachman met her only spouse George Englund in 1950. The couple was introduced by Englund’s sister Patricia, affectionately known as Patsy.

Leachman and Patsy co-starred in the Broadway “As You Like It” at the time, and she played Celia. The two ladies shared a dressing room.

The eight-time Emmy Award winner revealed why she loved his sister so much in her autobiography titled “Cloris Leachman with George Englund.” Leachman explained the fellow actress earned her respect when one afternoon, they went out for lunch and got back to the theater a few minutes later:

“Karl Nielsen, our very military stage manager, immediately reprimanded us and gave us a terse lecture on our responsibility to be on time. Patsy, unintimidated, spoke up, ‘Karl, you are absolutely right. It won’t ever happen again.’”

Leachman said that’s all it took, and the case was closed, adding the “Last Wish” star was laudable in many ways. She even wondered if Patsy had a brother.

Thankfully for her, she did. On one evening, her brother George, including their stepfather Ken Englund and their pal Herb Sargent walked toward her and Patsy.

On another evening, George came backstage, “and the car I was driving suddenly changed lanes,” said Leachman, adding that they became husband and wife not long after.

The comedienne retold the story to FilmFestival.com in 2017 and revealed she and George, a film director, first crossed paths after she moved to New York City in the 1950s:

“I was in a play called ‘As You Like It’ on Broadway for a year with Katharine Hepburn. It was there that I met George Englund, whose sister was in the play.”

The pair lived together for four years and decided to make things official by walking down the aisle in April 1953. That same year, the newlyweds welcomed their first child, Adam. Leachman and George had four more kids, George Jr., Dinah, Morgan, and their late son Bryan.

George was born in June 1926 to actress Mabel Albertson and Harold Austin Ripley. He was named George Howe Ripley at birth, but that changed when his parents divorced. His mother remarried and wed Ken, a screenwriter who adopted him and his sister Patsy.
Per the LA Times, the Washington D.C native studied at Black-Foxe Military Institute and earned an English and Philosophy degree. George also took part in sports as the captain of the basketball and tennis teams.

Like his wife, the film editor was also a Hollywood star. But as an actor, he had only appeared in a few films and TV shows. George’s main focus was being a screenwriter, a producer, and a director.

He assisted in creating “The Eddie Fisher Show,” including credits in movies such as “The Ugly American,” “See How She Runs,” “Dark of the Sun,” and “The Streets of LA.”

As a family man, George was hardly home because of work. Sometimes he was gone for weeks, leaving his wife with the housekeeper and their brood. That led to him and Leachman being at loggerheads with each...