Penelope Milford

Penelope Milford, the Oscar-nominated actress whose nuanced turn as Vi Munson in Hal Ashby's "Coming Home" (1978) earned her a Best Supporting Actress nomination, died October 14, 2025, at a rehabilitation facility in Saugerties, New York. She was 77. The cause of death was not announced.

Born March 23, 1948, in St. Louis, Missouri, Penelope Dale Milford grew up in Illinois and graduated from New Trier High School in Winnetka. Her parents were Richard George Milford and Ann Marie (née Felt).

Milford built a career that bridged stage and screen with uncommon grace. On Broadway, she joined the cast of "Lenny" in 1972 and originated the role of Jenny Anderson in "Shenandoah," earning a Drama Desk nomination in 1975.

Her breakthrough in film came as Vi Munson in "Coming Home," opposite Jane Fonda and Jon Voight. The role brought critical acclaim and an Academy Award nomination. She later portrayed silent-film star Lorna Sinclair in Ken Russell's "Valentino," appeared in Franco Zeffirelli's "Endless Love," and delighted cult-film fans as guidance counselor Pauline Fleming in "Heathers."

Milford's early screen credits included Norman Mailer's "Maidstone," and she continued working steadily through the 1990s in projects such as "The Burning Bed," "Normal Life," and "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Part II."

In addition to her work on screens and the Broadway stage, Milford also spent time teaching and in community performance. She taught acting in Chicago and Minneapolis, performed with local theater in Saugerties, and sang with the Bard Symphonic Chorus. Colleagues and students remembered a generous artist who treated the work with rigor and warmth.

She is survived by her brother Douglas Milford and sister Candace Saint. Her younger brother, Richard Kim Milford, an actor and musician, predeceased her in 1980.