Elaine Stritch, who played Alec Baldwin's offensively brassy mother on "30 Rock", passed away in her Michigan home last Thursday. Stritch had been suffering from diabetes and declining health for the past few years and was said to have died from natural causes. She was 89.

Stritch, known for her feisty personality on and off the stage, first captivated audiences' attention in the 1952 revival of "Pal Joey" where she played an aggressively witty newspaper reporter, singing and strip-teasing to the comical song "Zip".

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Working with some of Broadway's greatest composers, she developed a close bond with some of the stage's musical greats. Stritch, or "Stritchie" as Noel Coward referred to her, became a household name when she belted her signature song "The Ladies Who Lunch" written by Stephen Sondheim for the 1970 musical "Company."

In 2002, her one-woman show "Elaine Stritch: At Liberty" won for her both a Tony and an Emmy for the version aired on HBO. 

Brazenly honest, Stritch had always been vocal about her struggles with alcohol. She admitted to the New York Times in 2002, "I drank because I was scared - of my own ability and my talent. I knew I had it and I did not know how to get it out. Booze helped me."

New York's Landmarks Conservancy declared Stritch a living landmark in 2003 due to her close association with New York, declaring her an embodiment of the local arts and culture of the city.

However, due to failing health, she no longer had the energy to live in New York and opted to return to her native Michigan in 2013.

In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Stritch stated, "I want to be talked about. I want to be written about. I want everything about me! And I don't make any bones about that. I like it being all about me." 

Stritch was married to American Actor John Bay who died in 1982.

TagsElaine Stritch, 30 Rock, Broadway, death