Cindy Morgan, who played Lacey Underall opposite Chevy Chase in “Caddyshack,” has died at the age of 69. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office confirmed Morgan's death to TMZ.
In addition to the 1980 comedy, Morgan also starred in Tron, Galaxy and Silent Fury, as well as TV shows like Falcon Crest. She also had a guest role on “The Love Boat.”
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TheWrap.
Morgan was born Cynthia Ann Cichorski on September 29, 1954 in Chicago, Illinois. She was the first in her family to attend college, studying communications at Northern Illinois University and working at the school's radio station. She adopted the surname Morgan after a commercial broadcaster asked her to cover the news for him.
After graduating from high school, Morgan worked as a weather reporter in Rockford, Illinois before moving to Chicago and working as a DJ for WSDM. Eventually, she began working at car shows for Fiat, which led her to Los Angeles, where she began filming commercials before landing the role of “Caddyshack.”
Morgan once admitted that she was “not a good speaker” when she first went to school, but that “my professor suggested communications as a major, and that got me into broadcasting.” I was making $135 a week a morning drive to a big market, and when no one would let me do commercials, I said, 'I'm going to LA.'”
Morgan later said that even though the film was not an instant hit, it was its “timeless quality” that helped it stand the test of time. “There's something timeless about it because we really had the best time possible. You can’t fake it,” she told NBC. “We were fortunate to be surrounded by four of the funniest men in the world: Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Ted Knight and Rodney Dangerfield. And we were surprised by the comedic lightning.”
She also revealed that her favorite scene in the film wasn't originally in the script. Morgan said, “I love watching the scene where I ask Chevy to 'Sing me a love song.'” It wasn't in the script, rehearsed or even discussed in advance. Chevy plays a few bars and then snorts the salt. You can see me taking a few pauses as I realize what is happening and that this would be a scene in the movie. I had a big wad of gum in my mouth and blew a bubble in his direction.”
In 1982, Morgan landed a role in Tron. At the time, the film was part of Disney's strategy to change its image. Morgan told Retro Junk that the cast knew the film was “groundbreaking,” but that filming wasn't as advanced as some might think.
“People often assumed it was a green screen or blue screen shot. It was not. “In the Tron world scenes, we were shot in black and white in very uncomfortable and, in my opinion, unflattering costumes,” she said. “For me it was a challenge to make something that was so conceptual REAL to myself, otherwise it wouldn't read well on screen. Side note: There were video games on set that inspired us.”
Outside of Hollywood, Morgan worked with military veterans from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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