Georgia Holt – actor, singer and Cher's mother – dies aged 96

12 December 2022, 12:34 | Updated: 22 February 2023, 16:15

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By Mayer Nissim

Cher announces the passing of her mother Georgia Holt, who has died at the age of 96.

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Actress and singer Georgia Holt – also the mother of pop icon Cher – has died at the age of 96.

Cher announced her mother's passing on Twitter, and the news was confirmed by her spokesperson to the Washington Post yesterday (December 11).

"Mom is gone😔" Cher wrote on Twitter, prompting a wave of tributes from fans and celebrities.

While the cause of death was not revealed, Cher said in September that her mother had just come out of hospital after being "sick off and on" with pneumonia.

Among those paying tribute were former Senator and presidential candidate Hilary Clinton, and RuPaul's Drag Race winner and Cher impersonator Chad Michaels.

Holt had appeared as a guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race in 2014 alongside her grandson Chaz Bono.

Mom is gone😔
— Cher (@cher) December 11, 2022

"So sorry for your loss, my friend. Sending you all the 💚 in the world," Clinton said.

Michaels wrote: "Words are inadequate, all our love❤️🕊️."

Holt was born Jackie Jean Crouch in 1926, and after winning a number of talent and beauty competitions became an actor in her 20s, with well-loved appearances in TV shows like I Love Lucy, The Merv Griffin Show, Watch The Birdie and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.

Georgia Holt feat. Cher - I'm Just Your Yesterday

She recorded the album Honky Tonk Woman in 1982, but it wasn't released until 2013. It featured the song 'I'm Just Your Yesterday', recorded as a duet with Cher.

Fans got an insight into the close relationship between Cher and Georgia in the 2013 documentary Dear Mom, Love Cher.

Holt's movie roles included A Life of Her Own and Grounds for Marriage. while she herself got married six times, including twice to Cher's father John Sarkisian, for a year from 1946 to 1947 and again from 1965 to 1966.

She has a second daughter, actress Georganne LaPiere, born to her second husband John Southall.