Lisa Spoonauer, who played Caitlin Bree in Clerks, was sick for years before her death on Saturday, according to sources close to her family.
The sources told TMZ that Spoonauer, 44, had been battling undisclosed degenerative diseases for a decade. These illnesses were described as chronic and put the former actress in the hospital numerous times over the years. However, she was at her home in Jackson Township, New Jersey, at the time of her passing.
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Family members reportedly “never suspected her condition was bad enough to kill her.”
The outlet also reports the coroner and her doctor said she died of natural causes.
Spoonauer’s acting career only spanned two films: 1994’s Clerks and 1997’s Bartender. She did briefly reprise her Clerks role for one episode of Clerks: The Animated Series. She retired from acting and became a restaurant manager and event planner.
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She is survived by her husband, Tom Caron; her daughter, Mia Spoonauer; her stepson, Tyler Caron; her mother, Dolores Spoonauer; her twin brothers, Michael and Mark Spoonauer and their families; and her grandfather, Frank Figurelli, according to her obituary.
She was described as “a devoted mother and loving wife.”
Numerous tributes poured out on social media, including one by Clerks director Kevin Smith.
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“Lisa was easily the most natural and authentic voice in the room,” he said in an emotional Instagram post. “She didn’t sound like she was acting at all; she delivered scripted dialogue as if she was inventing her conversation in the moment, like people do in real life.”
He added, “But as strong an actress as she was, Lisa was an even more excellent Mother to her daughter Mia. Whenever we’d Facebook later in life, she’d gush about her baby girl proudly.”
