Selma Archerd, an actress who starred in the original “Die Hard” film and had a recurring role in “Melrose Place,” has died at the age of 98. She was the widow of Variety columnist Army Archerd.
Archerd’s death was announced by her family, who shared that the “devoted mother and grandmother” died “peacefully” on Dec. 14.
Archerd’s additional roles also included parts in “Scrooged,” “W.C. Fields and Me,” “Harry and Walter Go to New York,” “Fun with Dick and Jane,” and “Mommie Dearest.”
She starred as Nurse Amy in 25 episodes of “Melrose Place” from 1995-99. Archerd and her husband also appeared as themselves on “The Love Boat” and the game show “Tattletales.”
Archerd was born on Feb. 26, 1925, in Newark, New Jersey. She went to college at UCLA and married her first husband, Howard Rosenbaum, in June 1943. The pair were married until their divorce in 1968. They had two sons together.
The actress married her second husband, Armand “Army” Archerd, a month after her divorce was finalized. The Los Angeles Times reported that though they first met when she was only 16 and he was 19, they reconnected 28 years later.
She told the outlet of her husband, “I am very proud of him and I am very fierce about protecting the status of what he is. He isn’t the richest man in the world, or the most powerful . . . but what he has, I want respected. And I’ll take the title of pain in the ass so that he will be respected.”
In 2010 Archerd accepted a memorial tribute for her husband, who died in 2009.
Archerd is survived by her sons Richard and James and her grandson Ryan.
