Betty McGuire, Growing Pains Grandma, Dead At 100

Betty McGuire, whom modern American TV audiences likely know best as Kate Malone on "Growing Pains," died Thursday, October 8, Variety reported Sunday. She was 100.

McGuire's character was mother to Joanna Kerns' Maggie Malone Seaver — and grandma to Mike (played by Kirk Cameron), Carol (Tracey Gold), Ben (Jeremy Miller), and Chrissy (Ashley Johnson) — on the popular ABC comedy. As such, McGuire recurred on the series, appearing in 12 episodes over the course of the show's seven-season run from 1985 to 1992.

She died of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Fund's Wasserman Campus retirement community in Woodland Hills, California. She has no survivors.

In addition to "Growing Pains," McGuire's credits include a variety of one-episode stints on various television shows, such as "7th Heaven," "ER," "CSI: Miami," "Murder One," "Murphy Brown," and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," "Charlie's Angels," "Little House on the Prairie," and "Hart to Hart." She also had multi-episode gigs on "Hill Street Blues" and "Falcon Crest." 

McGuire's feature film work includes "Coma" and "Cheech & Chong's up in Smoke."