Sada Thompson

Sada Carolyn Thompson (1927-2011) was an American stage, film, and television actress. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, she moved to Fanwood, New Jersey with her family at a young age. Thompson graduated from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School in 1945 and went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre from Carnegie Institute of Technology. She trained at Pittsburgh Playhouse and made her Off-Broadway debut in 1955. Thompson appeared in numerous regional theatre productions and gained recognition for her role as Kate Lawrence in the television series Family (1976-1980), for which she won an Emmy Award in 1978 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.