ActorElsa Raven, prominently known for her character role in the originalBack to the Futureas the “Save The Clock Tower” lady,passed awayat the age of 91, on November 3 at her home in Los Angeles. Her agent David Shaul was the one who confirmed the news of her sad demise, but the cause of her death is still unknown.
The actress was born in September 1929 and, though her original name was Elsa Rabinowitz, she chose the surname Raven as her stage name when she began her acting career in New York City. While she did start her career by acting on stage, she soon started appearing in renowned tv shows as well as Hollywood films in small yet memorable roles, starting with playing the character of a matron in 1970’sThe Honeymoon Killers.
Her most famous role to date has been in 1985’sBack to The Futurewherein she played the character of the passionate clock tower lady advocating to “Save the clock tower!” and also collecting local donations to preserve said building from Mayor Wilson’s initiative to replace it. Her other memorable roles would include her character of the realtor who sold the house inAmityville Horror, appearing as Gertrude Stein inThe Moderns, playing John Malkovich’s landlady inIn the Line of Fire, as well as an old lady in James Cameron’sTitanic.
Although most of her scenes inTitanicdidn’t make it to the final cut, her character, Ida Strauss, was still featured in the Celine Dion video for “My Heart Will Go On.” In the video, she is seen lying in bed with her partner, silently anticipating the death that awaited them as the ship sank and the stateroom they were staying in flooded with water.
Raven also marked her career with many one-time and recurring television roles like appearing in an episode ofThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Airin 1992. Between 1988 and 1990, she was seen as Inga, a maid inAmenand joinedWiseguyas Carlotta Terranova, Vinnie’s mother, from 1987 to 1990. She was also a part of the famous daytime sitcom,Days of Our Livesin the recurring role of Lucille until 1999. She also had cameo appearances in shows likeMurphy Brown,Family Ties,Hunter,The A-Team,General Hospital, andThe Larry Sanders Show. The 2006 documentaryLooking Back to the Future, which talked about the filming of the legendaryBack to the Futuretrilogy, saw her appear as herself.
Another one of her most notable roles was that of “mom” on the famousSeinfeldepisode “The Mom and Pop Store.” The actress last graced the silver screen in 2011’sAnswers to Nothingas Mrs Harrison. As reported byVariety, Raven was also part of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, wherein she watched films to judge them and voted accordingly every year. She has a sister-in-law, Lynne Rabinowitz, and is survived by her 15 nieces and nephews, as per the outlet. This news comes to us viaDeadline.
