Closing Credits: Zelda Rubinstein
Zelda Rubinstein died aged seventy-six. She is probably best known for one role, and one role alone, Tangina Barrons, the clairvoyant, in the Poltergeist series. However it's a fantastically memorable role and one that she is well loved for.
Yet she has many roles through her career and has also been an activist for the rights of little people.
I was just looking through some of the quotes for Tangina and as I read them I could hear her voice and the scenes came back to me almost instantly. I think it's fair to say she is an iconic part of that film without a doubt.
”Y'all mind hanging back? You're jamming my frequency.”
I also forgot how many funny lines she has in the film, she played a great role and a great character. However there was more to Zelda Rubinstein's career than one might remember, and from her first appearance on television in 1980, she starred in a number of television and film roles, some of which the article in The Hollywood Reporter reminded me of:
Poltergeist; Sixteen Candles; Poltergeist II: The Other Side; Poltergeist III; Teen Witch; Picket Fences, and even Southland Tales.
However her role in Poltergeist will undoubtedly be the one she is most remembered for, and with little wonder.
”There is no death. It is only a transition to a different sphere of consciousness.”
Zelda Rubinstein
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