Clerks Actress Lisa Spoonauer Dead at 44
by Maureen Lee Lenker
May 23, 2017


Lisa Spoonauer, the actress best known for portraying Dante’s (Brian O’Halloran) high school girlfriend Caitlin Bree in Clerks, has died. She was 44.

Director Kevin Smith, who discovered Spoonauer in a community college acting class, announced the news on his Instagram account on Tuesday.



Spoonauer reprised the role as a voice actor in the 2001 animated series of the same name, and appeared in only one other film, Gabe Torres’ Bartender, before ending her acting career.

She went on to become a restaurant manager and event planner, according to an obituary posted by a New Jersey funeral home.







Kevin Smith's Instagram Post:


Devastated to report that #LisaSpoonauer, who played Caitlin in #clerks, has passed away. In 1992, I went looking for Lisa without knowing either who she was or the integral role she'd play in my life. I'd held a night of open auditions at the #firstavenueplayhouse (where we found @briancohalloran and @marilynghigliotti) but the perfect Caitlin Bree never walked through the door.

So I popped into an acting class at Brookdale Community College and watched the students from the back. Lisa was easily the most natural and authentic voice in the room. 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. Captivated, I approached Lisa cold in the parking lot after the class and said "This is gonna sound creepy but... Do you wanna be in a movie?" Fearlessly, she replied "Not if it's porn." I told her a bit about Clerks and gave her a copy of the script and my phone number. She called me a few days later and said "Well it's not porn, but everybody talks like it is. It's funny. I'll do it."

A complete stranger at first, Lisa quickly became one of the most important people I'd ever meet when she joined Brian, #JeffAnderson, Marilyn, @jaymewes, @samosier, @davidkleinasc and me as one of the chief architects of my first film. We rehearsed for a month straight in the store after hours, where Lisa perfected Caitlin (and fell in love with Jeff). The first night of the shoot, Lisa had to maneuver her way through a seven minute scene with Brian in the video store, when Caitlin finally shows up in the movie. Lisa and Brian CRUSHED it in one long take that still remains one of my favorite scenes I've ever shot - not because it shows off any directorial flare (it doesn't) but because it exemplified how great the performers were since we never had to cut away from their 2-shot.

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. My heart goes out to Tom, Mia and Lisa's family. Thank you for dreaming my dream with me. You changed my life, Lisa.

http://ew.com/movies/2017/05/23/lisa-spoonauer-dead-clerks-actres-dies-44/

Rest in peace.

Clerks Actress Lisa Spoonauer Died a "Natural Death" at 44 after Battling Degenerative Disease
by Mike Miller
May 24, 2017


Clerks actress Lisa Spoonauer died of natural causes at the age of 44, the local coroner’s office tells PEOPLE.

Best known for playing Caitlin Bree in Kevin Smith’s cult classic, she was battling an undisclosed chronic illness prior to her death at home on Saturday in New Jersey. The nature of her illness remains unclear.



On a fundraising page for Patient Advocate Foundation Inc. created by Spoonauer’s brother Mike in her memory, he wrote, “Our sister Lisa, if she had gotten better, was going to devote the rest of her life to fighting for those with chronic illness who didn’t have the strength or the resources to get the right answers and ultimately obtain the correct course of treatment for themselves.”

He added that if Spoonauer had survived her illness, “she would have continued to work with the charity, which helps solves insurance and medical access problems for those suffering from chronic illnesses.”



In January 2014, the former actress took to Facebook to thank Kevin Smith, who cast and directed her in Clerks, for helping with some of her medical expenses.

http://people.com/movies/clerks-actress-lisa-spoonauer-natural-death/

Clerks Star Lisa Spoonauer Died of Painkiller Overdose ... Battled Cancer, Lung Disease
by TMZ Staff
9/22/17


Clerks star Lisa Spoonauer died from an accidental overdose of a powerful painkiller ... TMZ has learned.

According to the Ocean County Medical Examiner in NJ, Lisa died of acute and chronic intravenous use of hydromorphone ... the generic brand of the narcotic, Dilaudid. She was also battling cancer, anemia, lung disease and immune deficiency ... all of which contributed to her death.

Lisa, who played Caitlin Bree in the cult classic film ... was only 44 when she died in May. At the time, her family said she'd been fighting undisclosed illnesses for years.

http://www.tmz.com/2017/09/22/clerks-star-lisa-spoonauer-cause-of-death-chronic-painkillers/

Quite sad indeed :(