'Who's the Boss?' Star Tony Danza Mourns 'National Treasure' Katherine Helmond With Heartfelt Tribute

Who's The Boss? star Tony Danza mourned the death of longtime actress Katherine Helmond, who died [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

Who's The Boss? star Tony Danza mourned the death of longtime actress Katherine Helmond, who died last week after a battle with Alzheimer's disease.

"We all lost a national treasure today. No words can measure my love," Danza, 67, wrote on Twitter. He included a group of photos with Helmond and the Who's The Boss? cast.

In a statement shared with The Wrap, Danza went on in further detail about his co-star, sharing how he was "in love with her."

"She was such an influence on me," Danza said in a statement. "No matter what problem I had, I could go to her. Very few people could match her. She was a consummate professional. She never made a mistake and she always got the laugh. She was the sexy older lady who could keep up with the young people. She just had a way about her."

Who's The Boss? co-star Alyssa Milano also shared a heartfelt tribute to Helmond on Twitter.

"Katherine Helmond has passed away," the Charmed actress wrote. "My beautiful, kind, funny, gracious, compassionate, rock. You were an instrumental part of my life. You taught me to hold my head above the marsh! You taught me to do anything for a laugh! What an example you were! Rest In Peace, Katherine."

"RIP, Katherine Helmond. SOAP ended with her character facing death, so when she turned up on BENSON, it was as a ghost-like figure only Benson could see. Good luck making it through this one dry-eyed," TV critic Alan Sepinwell wrote.

Helmond died on Feb. 23 at her Los Angeles home from complications of Alzheimer's disease. She is survived by her husband of 57 years, David Christian, and her half-sister Alice.

"She was the love of my life," Christian told The Hollywood Reporter. "We spent 57 beautiful, wonderful, loving years together, which I will treasure forever. I've been with Katherine since I was 19 years old. The night she died, I saw that the moon was exactly half-full, just as I am now … half of what I've been my entire adult life."

Helmond was best known for her roles on SOAP, Coach, Everybody Loves Raymond and Who's The Boss? on the small screen. She also starred in Terry Gilliam's films Time Bandits, Brazil and Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas. Other film credits include Alfred Hitchcock's Family Plot, Beethoven's 5th and voiced Lizzie in the three Cars films for Pixar. Her last TV roles came in 2011, when she appeared in episodes of True Blood and Harry's Law.

Helmond won a Golden Globe for SOAP in 1981 and another for Who's The Boss? in 1989. She earned four Emmy nominations for SOAP, two for Who's The Boss? and one for Everybody Loves Raymond. She earned a Tony Award nomination in 1973 for her performance in a production of Eugene O'Neill's The Great God Brown.

"I felt I blossomed as a person when I got a chance to act," Helmond once said. "Through all the many years now, I've never fallen out of love. It's been like an incredible marriage that really worked. I enjoyed every minute of it."

Photo credit: ABC Television/Fotos International/Getty Images

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