The Recording Academy Releases Statement on TV and Film Actress Deborah Raffin

Deborah Raffin, a film and television actress who later became an audiobook publisher, has passed away after a battle with leukemia on Wednesday. She was 59 years old.

The Recording Academy's President/CEO Neil Portnow today released this statement on her passing.

"GRAMMY Award winner Deborah Raffin was a great talent and a gifted spirit. The Recording Academy Los Angeles Chapter was proud to have Raffin as a Board member to work with our membership and ensure musicians' interests were always met. She had a successful career with her audio book company bringing books to life through spoken word. We have suffered a dear loss and our condolences go out to her friends, family and fans."

Raffin appeared in several 1970s Hollywood films. Her 1976 television movie Nightmare in Badham County became a theatrical hit in mainland China, making Raffin a star there, and leading to her later becoming the first Western actress ever to make a movie promotion tour in that country. She was nominated for both a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama.

In 1988, she starred in James Clavell's Noble House with Pierce Brosnan. In 1991, she appeared as Julie Vale, a telepath, in the cult film Scanners II: The New Order. She later appeared as Aunt Julie on the television show 7th Heaven, and as Dr. Hightower in the ABC Family teenager series, The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

Raffin and her husband, music producer Michael Viner, launched audiobook powerhouse Dove Books-on-Tape.