E.J. Peaker, who is known for her role as the chatty hat shop assistant, Minnie Fay, in Barbra Streisand's Hello Dolly! has died at the age of 82. The actress also starred alongside Robert Morse on the short-lived ABC musical comedy, That's Life.
The late star died at her home in Las Vegas on May 16 after a heartbreaking battle with Alzheimer's disease. Her husband, Scott Rosen, who worked as a pilot and musician, confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter on Monday.
Born Edra Jean Peaker in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on February 22, 1944, she graduated from Centennial High School in Pueblo, Colorado, before studying drama at the University of New Mexico and the University of Vienna.
Pueblo “used to be a major steel producing city,” she told The New York Times in 1968. “They would tell us in high school what an important place it was because it would be the second city to be bombed when the country was attacked. That was when I started thinking about leaving.”
The on-screen star built a successful career across film and television which spanned across three decades and she appeared on her first telethon at just five-years-old.
Back in the States, she landed in the road company of Bye Bye Birdie and went on to make her on-screen debut on a 1964 episode of Route 66.
Following the demise of That's Life, she appeared on seven episodes of Love, American Style from 1969 until 1973.
Her credits include Charlie’s Angels, The Rockford Files, The Streets of San Francisco, Wonder Woman, and Quincy, M.E. She also appeared as Rose Harris on The Greatest American Hero and as Carla St. James on Madame’s Place.
She also appeared 17 times on The Tonight Show and several game shows. In her later years, she was known as an advocate for the homeless in Encino, California.
Peaker was married three times, first to film producer Bob Zampino and later to accountant Steven Lee Salko, who died in 2010.
She tied the knot with her third husband Rosen, and is survived by her son and siblings.
A memorial for the actress is being held in Pueblo on August 22.
