R.I.P. Helen Slayton-Hughes, Ethel Beavers from Parks And Rec
A veteran actor of both stage and screen, Slayton-Hughes was a hilarious and stand-out member of the Parks And Rec ensemble
Helen Slayton-Hughes has died. A veteran actor of both stage and screen, Slayton-Hughes was best known to modern audiences for her numerous appearances on NBC’s Parks And Recreation, where she played Ethel Beavers, Pawnee’s resident court stenographer/hard-drinking, hard-parying agent of chaos. According to Yahoo! Entertainment, Slayton-Hughes was a long-time stage actor, with more than 200 roles to her name. Her death was reported earlier today, via her Facebook page. Slayton-Hughes was 92.
Although she began working in film and TV in the 1980s—scoring one or two-episode appearances in shows ranging from Nash Bridges to Power Rangers to Arrested Development—Slayton-Hughes got her first big exposure in 2011, when Parks And Rec cast her as Ethel in a small part in a third-season episode. A fairly standard riff on the “blunt, funny old lady” type, the character was quite obviously elevated by Slayton-Hughes’ performance, impressing all involved enough to bring her back for a much more regular role the next season, as the court stenographer for the ethics trial of Amy Poehler’s Leslie Knope. All told, Slayton-Hughes appeared in 11 episodes of the series, including a memorable moment in which she kissed a surprise-cameo Bill Murray on the forehead.