US actress Cloris Leachman who won an Oscar for the The Last Picture Show and Emmys for her comedic work in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and other TV series, has died aged 94.

Leachman died of natural causes at her home in Encinitas, California, publicist Monique Moss said. Her daughter was at her side.

Millions of viewers knew the actress as the self-absorbed neighbour Phyllis in The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

She also appeared as the mother of Timmy on the Lassie series.

She played a frontier prostitute in Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, a crime spree family member in Crazy Mama and the infamous Frau Bucher in Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein.