Oscar-nominated actress Penelope Milford, best known for her supporting role in the 1978 war drama “Coming Home,” died Tuesday, October 14, 2025, at age 77 in an assisted living facility in Saugerties, New York. Her death was confirmed by her siblings, Doug Milford and Candace Saint, though no cause of death has been disclosed.
Born March 23, 1948, in St. Louis, Missouri, and raised in Illinois, Milford launched her professional acting career in 1971 with an off-Broadway production of “Long Time Coming and a Long Time Gone,” starring opposite Richard Gere. The musical chronicled the life of musician-novelist Richard Fariña and marked the beginning of what would become a distinguished career spanning stage and screen.
Milford’s breakthrough came with Hal Ashby’s “Coming Home,” where she portrayed Vi Munson, the sister of a Vietnam veteran who returns home after just two weeks with severe emotional problems. Her character’s friendship with Sally Hyde, played by Jane Fonda, leads to Hyde volunteering at a Veterans Administration hospital. The role earned Milford an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, making her one of four cast members nominated for the film.
At the 51st Academy Awards ceremony, “Coming Home” received eight nominations total, including Best Picture. Jon Voight and Jane Fonda won the Best Actor and Best Actress awards respectively, while Milford lost the Supporting Actress category to Maggie Smith for “California Suite.” The film also won Best Original Screenplay and became both a commercial and critical success.
Her stage career included notable Broadway appearances, beginning with Julian Barry’s “Lenny” in 1972, a biographical play about comedian Lenny Bruce. In 1975, she originated the role of Jenny Anderson in the Civil War musical “Shenandoah,” earning a Drama Desk Award nomination for Best Featured Actress. Clive Barnes in The New York Times called her “fetching” and noted that she “sang with spirit.”
Milford’s film career extended beyond “Coming Home” to include memorable roles in Ken Russell’s 1977 biopic “Valentino,” where she played silent-film star Lorna Sinclair, and Franco Zeffirelli’s “Endless Love” in 1981 as the fiancée of Don Murray’s character. She also appeared in the cult classic “Heathers” in 1988, playing the hippie guidance counselor Pauline Fleming at Westerburg High School.
Her television work included several acclaimed telefilms throughout the 1980s. She starred alongside Henry Fonda and Cloris Leachman in the Emmy-winning “The Oldest Living Graduate” in 1980, and appeared with Sondra Locke in “Rosie: The Rosemary Clooney Story” in 1982. Her collaboration with Farrah Fawcett in 1984’s “The Burning Bed,” which addressed marital abuse, earned the production both a Writers Guild Award and a Golden Globe.
Additional film credits included Norman Mailer’s “Maidstone” in 1970, “Man on a Swing” in 1974, “The Last Word” in 1979, “Take This Job and Shove It” in 1981, and “Cold Justice” in 1991. Her final credited screen appearance was in 1997’s “Night of the Lawyers.”
After stepping away from Hollywood, Milford transitioned to academia, teaching film acting in Chicago and Minneapolis throughout the 1990s. She also operated an art gallery in Los Angeles from 1985 to 1987 and remained active in local theater productions and the Bard Symphonic Chorus.
In 2003, Milford moved to Saugerties, New York, to remodel a historic home and became involved in historic preservation efforts. She was briefly married to poet Michael Lally from 1982 to 1984 and remained active in the Woodstock Christian Science church.
Milford was preceded in death by her brother, Richard Kim Milford, who died of heart failure at age 37 in 1988. Kim was also an actor and singer, notably starring as Rocky in the original American stage production of “The Rocky Horror Show” and performing in a band with guitarist Jeff Beck. She is survived by her brother Douglas Milford, sister Candace Saint, and three nieces and nephews: Ollie, Amari, and Correll.
