Pat Crawford Brown

Brown was born in New York City and worked as an English teacher at Carson High School. The following years she made various guest-starring appearances on television series such as The Twilight Zone, ''Who's the Boss?, Mama's Family, Designing Women, Murder, She Wrote and Murphy Brown. From 1989 to 1997 she had a recurring role as Mrs. Alma Thorkelson on the ABC sitcom Coach. She also appeared in feature films, including Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988), The Rocketeer (1991), Sister Act (1992) and its sequel Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993), Reality Bites (1994), Forces of Nature (1999) and Playing Mona Lisa'' (2000). She played Joan Collins's character mother in the 2001 made-for-television movie These Old Broads. On television, Brown is best known for her role as Ida Greenberg in the ABC comedy-drama series, Desperate Housewives, a role she played from 2004 to 2007. She also had recurring roles on daytime soap operas General Hospital and Days of Our Lives and the prime time dramas Gilmore Girls and General Hospital: Night Shift. ==Personal life and death==