- Was nominated for Broadway's 1963 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Dramatic) for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
- Performed on stage with Chicago's legendary Second City improvisational comedy troupe.
- Appeared in three films that were selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), The Muppet Movie (1979) and A Christmas Story (1983).
- She played two Hoosiers (Indiana residents): in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) (which takes place in Muncie, Indiana); and in A Christmas Story (1983) (which takes place in Hohman, Indiana). Hohman is actually the name of the main avenue that passes through the historic district of the city Hammond, Indiana.
- Although she won a Theatre World Award as the very first actress to play the role of "Honey" in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (her Broadway debut) she was passed over for the film casting when the role was given to Sandy Dennis who went on to win an Oscar.
- Upon her death, she was cremated via the Neptune Society and her ashes returned to her surviving family.
- Studied acting with both Lee Strasberg and at the Goodman Theater School.
- Despite having been previously nominated for two Oscars, she was left out of the "In Memoriam" segment at the 95th Academy Awards. (She died two months before the award ceremony.).
- Played two different characters in Bound for Glory (1976).
- Grew up in the same town and went to the same high school as President Bill Clinton: Hope, Arkansas.
- She was a lifelong Democrat.
- No relation to Matt Dillon.
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