"Once Upon A Time In America" Actress Darlanne Fluegel Dies, Aged 64, After A Long Fight With Alzheimer's Disease

Darlanne Fluegel Dies From Alzheimers Disease

Darlanne Fluegel, the actress who starred in the movies like "Once Upon a Time In America," "To Live and Die In L.A," "Tough Guys" and "Running Scared" died, aged 64 after a long battle with Alzheimer. The late actor was diagnosed with the deadly disease at the age of 56.

According to her daughter Jenna, Fluegel died on December 15 at her home in Orlando.

Early Life

The late actor was born in Pennsylvania in 1953. She began her career as a model in 1974. She made her Hollywood debut in Irvin Kershner thriller, 1978 "Eyes Of Laura Mars." She also played roles in movies "Running Scared," "Tough Guys" and "Once Upon a Time In America."

Fluegel also played the role of Julie, the wife of Dennis Farina's cop in NBC drama "Crime Story." She was also a regular cast member in the final series of "Hunter."

Family And Starting Career As A Model

Fluegel was raised in Binghamton, New York with her three younger brothers and two elder sisters. Trying to support herself after the death of her father from a brain tumor, Fluegel stepped into the world of modeling. She started her modeling career in 1974 at 100$ per hour and retired from modeling in 1981 at triple of her hourly rate.

Quitting Modeling To Embrace Acting As A Profession

Tired from modeling, the actor decided to bring a drastic change in her career and decided to pursue acting as a profession. Talking about her first movie role, in the movie "Eyes Of Laura Mars" Fluegel in an interview in 1986 said, “I wasn’t ready after Laura Mars. Let’s just say that it wasn’t much of a stretch to portray a New York model being chased by a weirdo. But when I was 25 I decided to go for it. What the hell, right? I was always determined to succeed at whatever I did and I figured Hollywood was a tough nut to crack—but one that could be broken.”

Teaching In An Acting School

Fluegel gave up on her acting career in the mid 90's. She later started her own acting school and eventually became an acting teacher. The ever-so graceful actor also taught as a professor in the University Of Central Florida from 2002 to 2007. The late actor also produced a documentary related to Japanese Baseball in 2010, "Land Of The Rising Football," which according to her daughter is used by the department of anthropology, Yale.

Death

The beautiful actress lost her fight to Alzheimer's after fighting the disease for 9 years. A celebration of her life is being planned for this spring. She is survived by daughter Jenna and son Coulter.