‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ Actress Dead at 78: Tributes Pour in for Lynne Marie Stewart

Lynne Marie Stewart, an actress with a decades-long career in Hollywood, has died, according to several of her peers and friends. She was 78.

Stewart is best known by audiences for her work as It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Bonnie Kelly, the mother of Charlie (Charlie Day). She previously etched out another spot in television history as one of the cast members of the iconic children’s show Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. She portrayed Miss Yvonne on the show, the beauty queen who frequently dropped in to visit Pee-Wee (Paul Reubens).

As spotted by TV Line, numerous stars, including SNL legend Laraine Newman and Elvira actress Cassandra Peterson, shared news of Stewart’s passing online. No cause of death is publicly available.

“The most beautiful girl in Puppetland has left us,” Newman wrote on Instagram. “Lynne Stewart was truly an angel and brilliantly funny and an important part of our Groundlings family. As my sister said, ‘if you don’t love Lynne, you’re just wrong.’”

Peterson, whose projects The Elvira Show and Elvira, Mistress of the Dark included Stewart in the cast, wrote on Instagram, “My heart is breaking upon hearing the news of my dear friend Lynne Stewart’s passing. One of the kindest, sweetest, funniest women who ever lived. The iconic Miss Yvonne of Pee-wee’s Playhouse: She’ll always be ‘the most beautiful woman in Puppetland.’”

Aside from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, the late actress appeared in numerous TV shows and movies since the 1970s. In film, she appeared in Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Bridesmaids, The Running Man, American Graffiti, Dunston Checks In, Big-Top Pee-Wee and Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday. On television, Stewart popped up on M*A*S*H, Laverne & Shirley, Comedy Bang! Bang!, The Golden Girls, Night Court, Arrested Development, Grey’s Anatomy, Hawaii Five-O, The Jeffersons, The F.B.I., 2 Broke Girls, Good Luck Charlie and The Secret World of Alex Mack. She also provided voices for several episodes of A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.