In 1986, I opened up the New York Times and found that my favorite film actress, Miss Lilli Palmer, had just died of cancer in Los Angeles, only in her early 70s and still very beautiful. Shocked and horrified, I knew that her last acting job, a feature role in the miniseries Peter the Great was going to air soon and although I was a huge fan, her illness came as a complete surprise to me. For this last role, she received a posthumous Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actress for a TV movie or miniseries. Sadly she did not win. Before that she appeared in her last feature film, The Holcroft Covenant that same year, as Michael Caine's mother. She was quite stunning in this film, her last for the big screen. She remained beautiful till the end. ~ Jonathan Lippman