Leachman was nominated five times for an Emmy Award playing Phyllis Lindstrom, Mary Tyler Moore's landlady and self-described best friend on The Mary Tyler Moore Show 1970 and on the spin-off series Phyllis 1975.
The natural-born star also made history in films such as The Twilight Zone, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Spanglish, and Raising Hope.
At 15 she won a special summer drama scholarship to Northwestern University, and later, as an undergraduate, she won the school's best actress award in her sophomore year.
Cloris was not married at the time of her death, but she was famously wed to the late film producer and actor George Englund.