'What's Eating Gilbert Grape' Star Darlene Cates Dies at 69

What's Eating Gilbert Grape star Darlene Cates has died at age 69, Cates' daughter, Sheri Cates Morgan, announced in a Facebook post.

The actress was most well-known for playing the mother in the 1993 film, which also starred Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Morgan shared that her mother had died "peacefully in her sleep" on Sunday, March 26.

"We take comfort in knowing that she is no longer in pain and is in the arms of our Heavenly Father, breaking away only to dance with our Savior, Jesus," Morgan wrote. "(Dancing was something she talked about loving to do 'back in the day'!)"

People shares that Cates was discovered by Gilbert Grape author and screenwriter Peter Hedges after he saw a tape of the actress on a 1985 episode of Sally Jessy Raphael titled "Too Heavy to Leave Their House." He offered her the role of Depp and DiCaprio's obese, housebound mother in the film, and she accepted and earned critical acclaim for her performance.

Cates later appeared on TV shows like Picket Fences in 1994 and Touched by an Angel in 1996.

This story first appeared at Womanista.