Markie Post, an actress best known for playing a public defender on the 1980s sitcom “Night Court,” died Saturday at age 70.
Post succumbed to a nearly four-year battle with cancer, her manager Ellen Lubin Sanitsky told Deadline. Sanitsky did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
In addition to her work in “Night Court,” which ran for nine seasons on NBC from 1984 to 1992, she also had memorable roles as a bail bondsman in the Lee Majors action series “The Fall Guy” in the early ’80s and in the 1992-95 comedy “Hearts Afire” about a conservative senator’s aide (John Ritter), who marries a liberal political reporter (Post).
Later, she had recurring guest roles in series like “The District” and as the mother of Sarah Chalke’s doctor character on “Scrubs.”
Post’s film credits include playing Cameron Diaz’s mother in the hit 1998 Farrelly Brothers comedy “There’s Something About Mary” and a singer opposite Jimmy Smitz’s Miami cop in the 1988 thriller “Glitz” based on an Elmore Leonard novel.
A native of Palo Alto, California, Post got her start working in games shows such as “Double Dare” and “Card Sharks” in the 1970s. Before long she was making guest appearances in TV hits like “Barnaby Jones,” “Simon & Simon,” “The Greatest American Hero” and “The A-Team.” A guest role as the best friend of Shelley Long’s Diane Chambers on “Cheers” soon led to a regular role on “The Fall Guy.”
Even after her cancer diagnosis, Post continued her acting career, appearing in the 2017 Lifetime Christmas movie “Four Christmases and a Wedding” and the 2018-19 ABC sitcom “The Kids Are Alright.”
