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Actress Connie Sawyer Dies At 105

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Let's take a chance now to remember Hollywood's oldest working film actress.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "NEW GIRL")

CONNIE SAWYER: (As Oldest Woman in the World) Wait. I forgot Bernie. Hold the elevator. Bernie, Bernie - where are you, you idiot?

(LAUGHTER)

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

That's actress Connie Sawyer in a recent appearance on the show "New Girl." She passed away last week at the age of 105. In her eight-decade-long career, Sawyer was known for comedic roles from vaudeville acts to parts in "When Harry Met Sally" and "Dumb And Dumber."

GREENE: As for why her career was so long - I mean, that's the question we all want to know - right? - well, she credits her genes and also something else. She gave away the secret to her longevity in an interview with NPR's Susan Stamberg in 2016.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

SAWYER: Move. Don't sit on the couch. All my life, I played golf, I swam, and even here, I go to the exercise class.

GREENE: Now, by here, she meant the Motion Picture and Television Fund retirement center, where she had lived since 2004, exercising and working as an actress and - you know, in her spare time - writing a memoir, which she self-published. It was called "I Never Wanted To Be A Star - And I Wasn't."

MARTIN: We're not so sure she was right about that (laughter).

GREENE: I - exactly. I think she wasn't right about that.

(SOUNDBITE CIRCADIAN EYES' "GOODBYE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.