Actress Jill Clayburgh dies

JILL Clayburgh, the sophisticated Hollywood and Broadway actress known for portrayals of empowered women in a career spanning five decades, has died, age 66.

The highlight of her career was her Oscar- nominated role of a divorcee exploring life after marriage in the 1978 film An Unmarried Woman.

Her husband, playwright David Rabe, said Clayburgh died on Friday surrounded by family at her home in Lakeville, Connecticut, after a 21-year battle with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.