Actress Diana Sowle dies

New York Daily News

The actress who portrayed Charlie’s mother in the original Willy Wonka film has died at 88.

Diana Sowle—who made her film debut in “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” in 1971—died early Friday morning, her rep confirmed to BBC News.

“She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother and friend, and will be dearly missed,” her family said in a statement.

A cause of death has not been revealed for Sowle, but the statement noted she was accompanied by her family at the time of her passing.

Sowle only made a small handful of acting appearances over the course of her career, with her performance as Mrs. Bucket in “Willy Wonka” by far the most prominent. She notably sang the song “Cheer Up Charlie” to her son in the movie.

The actress suggested during an interview in 2015 that Charlie should’ve brought her character along with him to Wonka’s chocolate factoruy after winning the golden ticket, rather than his grandfather.

“Charlie should’ve taken his mom,” Sowle told The Baltimore Sun at the time.

“He should’ve said ‘Oh, that’s wonderful. Now I can buy my mother a beautiful dress!’ Never happened.”

Actor Gene Wilder, who portrayed Wonka in the classic fantasy film, died in 2016. Several variations of the film—which is based on the 1964 book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”—have been made over the years, including a 2005 remake starring Johnny Depp as Wonka.

“It didn’t have the charm ‘Willy Wonka’ had,” Sowle said of the 2005 flick during her conversation with The Baltimore Sun.

Sowle’s other two movie appearances both came in 1994 with small gigs in “Guarding Tess” and “Clear and Present Danger.”

In addition to her movie career, Sowle did voiceover work for the 2008 video game “Fallout 3” and portrayed Eleanor Schubert in the stage play “Shear Madness.”