Lisa Blount, an actress and producer best known for her supporting turn in An Officer And A Gentleman, has died. She was 53. (There’s no word yet on cause of death, although the coroner did issue a statement saying that no foul play is suspected.) Blount played Lynette, the factory worker best friend to Debra Winger’s character in the 1982 drama, who gets involved with Richard Gere’s fellow cadet played by David Keith. The role earned Blount a Golden Globe nomination and a vote of “Favorite Female Newcomer” in a poll conducted that year by Us Magazine.
Blount also appeared on TV shows like Moonlighting, Magnum P.I., Murder She Wrote, The Hitchhiker, and Picket Fences throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, and had another memorable role playing the stepmother to the ruthless titular character in the cult series Profit. She also had supporting roles in films like John Carpenter’s Prince Of Darkness, Great Balls Of Fire, and Needful Things. Recently she had started to work more and more behind the scenes, winning an Oscar for producing (alongside her husband, actor Ray McKinnon, who also directed) the 2001 live-action short The Accountant, and also producing and starring in the 2004 Billy Bob Thornton film Chrystal, which also featured her a memorable scene of her singing backed by Harry Dean Stanton.
Her last on-screen appearance was opposite her husband in the 2007 comedy Randy And The Mob, which McKinnon wrote and directed.