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Star Actress Tragically Dies In LA Fires

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A female star from the hit 1980 comedy “Blues Brothers” tragically perished in L.A.’s fires last week after she was unable to escape her burning home.

Family and friends are requesting privacy while processing the “devastating” loss of Dalyce Curry, 95, a longtime supporting actress in Hollywood whose film credits include other significant projects like “The Ten Commandments” and “Lady Sings the Blues.” She was reported as one of the dozen or so victims killed by the Eaton fires last week.

A representative from the LA County Medical Examiner’s Office contacted Curry’s family around 6 p.m. on Sunday to report that her remains were found amid the charred rubble of her Altadena home.

The fire, which began on January 7th, quickly burned out of control after authorities say it reignited from an initial blaze caused by fireworks explosions on New Year’s Eve. Dalyce Kelley, the actress’s granddaughter, had dropped her off at home just hours after the fires were first reported, but both thought that the flames couldn’t possibly reach her neighborhood.

Kelley, Curry’s part-time caregiver, said her grandmother, whom she affectionately refers to as “Momma D,” was “exhausted” after spending all day at a local hospital receiving medical treatment.

After receiving a text that the power had gone out at Curry’s home, Kelley raced to locate her. By the time she arrived, however, firefighters had cordoned off Altadena and told her it was too late.

“I’m sorry your grandmother’s property is gone,” a law enforcement officer told Kelley when she arrived at the edge of the burn zone, the New York Post reported. “It totally burned down.”

Kelley’s next stop was the Pasadena Civic Center, which an officer said housed some of the residents displaced by the fires locally. Unfortunately, Curry was not there, leading her family to fear the worst. They continued to pray for her safe return well into Sunday up until receiving the heartbreaking news.

“It was total devastation,” Kelley told ABC7. “Everything was gone except her blue Cadillac.”

“Honestly, we don’t feel very hopeful that she’s still here with us,” she confessed. She added in a Monday night Facebook post, “We had a great run. She impacted my life in so many ways. This loss is devastating.”

Curry was one of the few remaining members of Old Black Hollywood, the generation of Black actors who came of age in the 1950s when most roles were still racially segregated or stereotyped on-screen to fit the times. Kelley said Curry never complained and took what jobs she could land, including background roles in “The Ten Commandments,” “The Blues Brothers,” and “Lady Sings the Blues.”

Loree Beamer-Wilkinson, another of Curry’s granddaughters, said her Momma D was active in her golden years all the way up until the end.

“She was very active, you would not think she was 95,” she said.

More than a week after the fires first raged, the death toll has risen to 24 while other 200,000 have been displaced, and 39,000 acres of land have been burned down.