Walk to the Light, Zelda

Zelda Rubinstein, who was added to the cast of Picket Fences to make Ray Walston and Tom Skerritt look lively and Fyvush Finkel look semi-lucid, has died at the age of 76. The 4-foot-3 phlebotomist (as an aside – who wouldn’t have walked out if a midget with a high-pitched voice and a face like an elbow was coming at them with a needle, but I digress…) decided to change career paths in her late 40s, with Hollywood the obvious destination. After her debut as Chevy Chase’s love interest in Under the Rainbow, she scored her breakout role as Tangina, the clairvoyant who tries to clear the Freeling house of spirits in Poltergeist, proclaiming: “This house is clean!” Then returning in two sequels to battle the evil that couldn’t leave Carol Ann alone.