Actress Denise Nickerson, 62 is no more! She was weaned off the life support and died on 10 July 2019!
- Denise Nickerson, the actress in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory has passed away!
- She had a massive stroke last year with extensive brain damage and had continued to struggle with it.
- She was taken off life support and died earlier in the day on 10 July 2019.
Denise Nickerson and her sad demise
Denise Nickerson, 62 has been put off her life support which expired on 10 July 2019. Her family was by her side when she died.
Variety reports that her family has posted on Facebook a message about her death. They wrote :
“She’s gone,”
The Facebook post further reads:
“They just took off all the equipment. None of it was helping, but making her only more uncomfortable. We’re telling her it’s okay to let go,”
The last few days of Denise Nickerson
The talented actress Denise suffered a major stroke last year which left her incapacitated. She had extensive neurological damage due to the stroke and was bedridden.
This Monday 8 July 2019, she was rushed to an emergency to the ICU for breathlessness. The doctors diagnosed pneumonia in her and started the appropriate medicines for it. But she continued to deteriorate despite therapy.
She had a massive seizure in the hospital the next day. She slipped into a coma-like state and continued to have multiple seizures, after that. Denise’s family continued to update her fans about her health. They posted on her Facebook about her condition regularly.
The family wrote:
“They have upped her oxygen,”
“She’s under a DNR [Do not resuscitate] order so they aren’t putting her on a ventilator or feeding tube.”
Her family further wrote:
“We don’t know how much time she has. It could be minutes. It could be hours. But no matter what, she’s already gone. We are sitting here with her just trying to keep her comfortable and let her know it’s okay.”
It appears that they did ultimately put her on life support but decided to switch it off when nothing seemed to work.
Denise Nickerson and her acting career
Denise was a child actress. She appeared in several TV shows in the late 1960s. Her role in 1968 in Dark Shadows brought her fame. In 1971, she begged her role as Violet Beauregarde in the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
She was just 13 years old at that time. She did more memorable roles before calling it quits in 1978. Denise became a nurse and appeared on television sporadically on some shows.
Denise Nickerson and her personal life
Denise was married twice. Her first husband was Rick Keller. They wed in 1981 but two years later, tragedy struck Denise’s life. Her husband Rick died suddenly due to a brain aneurysm.
She remarried after many years in 1995. Her second husband is Mark Willard. They had a son named Josh who is married now. But Denise and Mark divorced in 1998.
In August 2016, Denise paid her respect to Gene Wilder who was her co-star in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
RIP Gene. You were so talented and kindhearted. You will be sorely missed by so many. All of us have lost OUR Willy Wonka. Love, Violet
— Denise Nickerson (@deniseviolet71) August 30, 2016
She tweeted:
“RIP Gene. You were so talented and kindhearted. You will be sorely missed by so many. All of us have lost OUR Willy Wonka. Love, Violet. “
Her family has started a GoFundMe page to get help to send Denise off and have some peace over the next few months”.
Source: 10 daily Au, Wikipedia