Jill Clayburgh

A little bit behind everyone else, but I was saddened to hear the news. I saw An Unmarried Woman when I was very young. My mother liked that movie enormously. And Clayburgh made a huge impression on me in that film. Her pores seemed to exude feeling. She was so beautiful, in a normal, not Hollywood glamour kind of way. The story of the unraveling of a marriage from the point of view of the wife and the honesty of the feelings that was exhilarating, almost like getting punched in the gut and feeling grateful for it. I remember being shocked at the scene when she throws up. Had never seen anything like it in a film. I'm writing this from distant memory, since I have not seen the movie in years. But I still remember a somewhat flaky husband played by Michael Murphy, who was very good at playing spineless Wasps, and of course, the icing on the cake of this woman's awakening, the sexy, arty, hairy, robust appearance of Alan Bates (it's called charisma, and like her, he had it in spades).  Remember when there were movies in America about powerful, sexy, strong women like Jane Fonda, and Jill Clayburgh, Susan Sarandon? That is a loss we should be mourning as well.