Thursday’s episode of “Superstore” included a touching tribute to actress Linda Porter, who died last month at the age of 86. Porter’s character, Myrtle Vartanian, appeared in 35 episodes of the NBC comedy during its first four seasons. She showed up for the last time in the May 2019 finale.
The tribute came in the form of a title card at the end of the episode, seen below:
Shortly after Porter’s passing, “Superstore” executive producers Gabe Miller and Jonathan Green released the following joint statement: “Linda wasn’t just hilarious; she was incredibly sweet, energetic and enthusiastic — working with her brightened everyone’s day. We’re lucky to have been a small part of her long career. The ‘Superstore’ family won’t be the same without her.”
And her career was, indeed, long. Prior to recurring on ‘Superstore,’ Porter appeared in more than 70 different projects, beginning with an episode of the original “Beauty and the Beast” TV show in 1988. (True “Gilmore Girls” historians may also remember Porter as former Dragonfly Inn owner Fran Weston.)
“Superstore” star Ben Feldman also posted a special farewell message for Porter on Twitter, writing, “Here’s hoping the angels don’t call cut right away because your best stuff always came at the end. We’ll miss you Linda Porter.”