Veteran television actress Denise Dowse, whose roles have spanned from Beverly Hills, 90210 to Insecure, has died after a battle with viral meningitis. She was 64 years old.
The news was announced by Dowse’s sister, Tracey, in an Instagram post on Saturday.
“I want to take this moment to thank our friends and family for all the love and prayers,” she wrote. “It is with a heavy heart that I announce to everyone that my sister, Denise Dowse, has stepped forward to meet our family in eternal life.”
She continued, “Denise Yvonne Dowse was the most amazing sister, an accomplished celebrated actress, mentor and director. She was my very best friend and last member of my family. Denise loved you all. I know that she is watching over us with all her love.”
Dowse was hospitalized in a coma earlier this month after contracting meningitis. Her sister Tracey asked fans for their support in an Aug. 6 Facebook post: “I ask for your support and prayers for myself and my sister and my only immediate family, Denise Dowse. She is currently in the hospital in a coma caused by a virulent form of meningitis. Her doctors do not know when she will come out of the coma as it was not medically induced.”
A frequent face on ’90s TV shows like Seinfeld, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and ER, Dowse played West Beverly Hills High’s assistant principal Yvonne Teasley on the Fox primetime soap opera Beverly Hills, 90210, the appeared in two dozen episodes. (She also played an assistant principal on NBC’s Saturday morning teen sitcom California Dreams.) She then appeared on Simon Baker’s CBS legal drama The Guardian as family court judge Rebecca Damsen.
Ian Ziering, who worked with Dowse on 90210, paid tribute to her on Instagram:
More recently, Dowse played Molly’s therapist, Dr. Rhonda Pine in HBO’s Insecure, which debuted in Season 2 and returned for two more seasons. Her films include Ray, Starship Troopers and Pleasantville.