Brandis Kemp, an American actress best known for her appearances on the television shows Fridays and AfterMASH, has passed away after a struggle with brain cancer and complications from COVID-19. She was 76.
According to Myra Turley, actress and acting, Kemp was surrounded by family and friends.
Kemp spent five decades as a working actress and comedian. She appeared on the ABC late-night variety show Fridays, starring alongside Larry David, Michael Richards, Rich Hall and more. She next starred as “Alma Cox” on the CBS spinoff AfterMASH with Jamie Farr, Harry Morgan, William Christopher and Rosalind Chao. As a member of the comedy group, Low Moan Spectacular; Brandis performed in El Grande de Coca Cola and Bullshot Crummond for HBO.
Other TV credits include appearances in Remington Steel (1982), The Wonder Years (1992), Grace Under Fire (1993), Clifford (1994) and ER (1997).
Born in Palo Alto, California, on Feb. 1, 1944, Brandis Kemp studied at the American Conservatory Theater and earned her MFA in drama and literature from Stanford. While performing at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, she met actor Mark Blakefield; whom she would go on to marry and divorce.
In November 2019, at age 75, after learning that her home needed to be re-stuccoed, Brandis taught herself to stucco, got on a ladder and did it herself. One month later she was diagnosed with a glioblastoma.
She is survived by her niece, Sharon Lea, and her nephews, David and Scott Ronsse. She is set to be buried in her family plot at Mount Shasta Memorial Park in Mount Shasta, California.
