NEW YORK — Mariclare Costello, who had a recurring role as a schoolteacher on “The Waltons” during the 1970s and played a hippie vampire in the 1971 cult horror film “Let’s Scare Jessica to Death,” died on April 17 in Brooklyn, New York, her family announced. She was 90.
Costello appeared as schoolteacher Rosemary Hunter in 16 episodes of “The Waltons” during the series’ first five seasons (1972-77), according to IMDb.com. Her character was the first person to read one of John-Boy Walton’s (Richard Thomas) stories at Walton’s Mountain School, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Her character would marry Rev. Matthew Fordwick (John Ritter) to open the series’ fourth season in 1975,
“I had the greatest time with Richard Thomas and John Ritter,” Costello said in a 2011 interview. “We laughed from the beginning of the day until the end of the day. We spent a lot of time together. They were great.”
Costello’s most memorable role on the big screen came in the horror film, “Let’s Scare Jessica to Death,” Deadline reported. In the moody cult horror film, she takes up with Jessica (played by Zohra Lampert), but eventually becomes a vampire.
In one key scene, Costello emerges from a lake as a vampire and attacks the main character.
A native of Peoria, Illinois, Costello was born on Feb. 3, 1936. She was an original member of the Lincoln Center Repertory Company and appeared four times on Broadway, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That included a 1970 revival of “Harvey” that starred Jimmy Stewart and Helen Hayes, the entertainment website reported.
She received her master’s degrees in theater and education from Catholic University in Washington, D.C., Deadline reported.
According to her obituary, Costello performed for President John F. Kennedy as Nerissa in “The Merchant of Venice.”
She made her Broadway debut in 1965 in “The Country Wife,” and followed it up with the 1968 production of “Lovers and Other Strangers,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In "Harvey," Costello played a psychiatric hospital nurse.
Costello’s film résumé also included “Ordinary People” (1980) and “The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension”(1984), according to The Hollywood Reporter.
She also appeared in the 1976 TV miniseries “Raid on Entebbe” and had guest starring roles in series such as “Ironside,” “Kojak,” “Harry O,” “Lou Grant,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Chicago Hope,” “Judging Amy” and” Providence."
Costello was married to “M*A*S*H” actor Allan Arbus from 1977 until his death in 2013, Deadline reported.