Katherine Helmond From Who's the Boss? Dead at 89

Katherine Helmond, who starred on the sitcoms Soap and Who's the Boss?  in the '80s and '70s, has died at age 89.

The Emmy-nominated actress, known for her sultry voice, red hair and sense of humor, passed away at her Los Angeles home on February 23 from complications of Alzheimer's disease, her rep confirmed to E! News on Friday, following a report by Deadline. She is survived by her second husband, David Christian, half-sister, Alice Parry, and many nephews and nieces. She had no children.

"She was the love of my life," Christian said in a statement. "We spent 57 beautiful, wonderful, loving years together, which I will treasure forever. I've been with Katherine since I was 19 years old. The night she died, I saw that the moon was exactly half-full, just as I am now...half of what I've been my entire adult life."

Helmond, a native of Galveston, Texas, began her onscreen acting career in the mid-'50s. After appearing on various TV shows for two decades, she landed her breakout role of Jessica Tate on the soap opera parody sitcom Soap, which aired between 1977 and 1981. She also reprised her role on episodes of its spinoff, Benson. In 1984, she began playing man-crazy mom and grandmother Mona Robinson on the sitcom Who's the Boss? opposite Tony Danza, Judith Light and a teen Alyssa Milano.

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