Broadway and Television Actress Inga Swenson Has Passed Away at 90

Irene Swenson, best known for her role as Gretchen Kraus on the television show Benson and numerous roles on Broadway, passed away at the age of 90 at a board and care facility on Sunday, July 23, according to her son Mark.

Swenson was nominated for a Tony Award for her performances as Lizzie Curry in 1963's 110 in the Shade and Irene Adler in Baker Street on Broadway in 1965. She made her Broadway debut in New Faces of 1956 and was the Standby for Guenevere in the original Broadway production of Camelot. 

Other theatre credits include The First Gentleman on Broadway and Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady at City Center in 1968.

Swenson received 3 Emmy nominations for her performance as the cook Gretchen Kraus on TV's Benson, and played Ingrid Svenson in the sitcom Soap. Other film and television credits include Helen Keller's mother in 1962's The Miracle Worker and Advise & Consent, and Maude in the North & South saga. 

Swenson is survived by her son Mark and husband Lowell Harris.