Lucinda Schiff

Lucinda Schiff, a former actress and the wife of David Schiff, the founder and a partner in the Hollywood management and production company MGMT. Entertainment, has died. She was 61.

“To make a long story short.” – A quote known to anyone who has ever had a conversation with Lucinda. Anyone who heard that phrase leave her lips also knew that it wasn’t going to be a short story.

When you hear a diagnosis of a brain tumor, you think, “Oh well, that’s it. It’s gonna be a long life story shortened.” There is no denying that her story ended too soon.

Lucinda Schiff’s 15-year battle with recurring brain tumors ended on Wednesday, Dec. 30 at 8:15 p.m. at her home in Pacific Palisades.

Born and raised as Lucinda Valles in Puerto Rico, her father abandoned her, her three little sisters, and their Irish American mother to fend for themselves, and at 15 years of age her mother died in her arms.

Shipped off to New York, more abandonment followed when her dad sent her out of the house at 18 for exhibiting an independent spirit.

Working under her stage name Lucinda Dooling, she starred as a high school cheerleader who goes undercover to fight drug dealers and avenge the death of her brother in the 1981 cult film “Lovely But Deadly.”

In the 1981 ABC docudrama “Miracle on Ice,” the actress portrayed the wife of Mike Eruzione (played by Andrew Stevens), the captain of the upstart U.S. hockey team that stunned the Soviet Union and captured the gold medal at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.

She guest-starred as the visiting sister of Larry (Richard Kline) on a 1983 episode of “Three’s Company” and appeared on other TV series including “Nero Wolfe” and “Hart to Hart,” and in the acclaimed 1983 miniseries “The Thorn Birds.”

She made her onscreen debut in the 1979 Steven Spielberg film “1941.”

When she met and married David, she dedicated the rest of her life as wife and mother.

Lucinda has been known in all her neighborhoods and children’s schools as “everyone’s mother.” The name Lucinda means “graceful light,” and was the Roman goddess of childbirth who safeguarded the lives of women in labor.

Lucinda gave the “first light” to the newborn, and illumined them all the way to adulthood, and lighted every room she entered.

When her youngest son, Henry, reached pre-school, Lucinda produced exquisite works of art and interior design. Later, even between surgeries and in distress, her massive renovation of their Palisades home circa 1926 was featured in the LA Times and continued to be a magnet to friends, family and wandering loners.

The Schiffs moved to their home in the Palisades in 1993. The family soon after joined the congregation at the Palisades’  Kehillat Israel where all three children celebrated their Bar and Bat Mitzvah.

Lucinda was an exuberant and vocal cheerleader for years at PPBA games. Daughter Kaylie broke new ground as the very first female to participate in the league, the first among the three kids to have played to the sounds of Lucinda’s “don’t forget to breathe” chants, which were also generously provided to all teammates when at bat!

The Palisades was Lucinda’s sanctuary; whether it was tennis at the Riviera, mountain biking in the hills above her home, shopping weekly for fresh flowers and produce at the open air market on Sundays, or visits with innumerable friends in the community.

In addition to her husband of 35 years, Kaylie (with a soon-to-be baby girl), sons Mickey and Henry, Lucinda is survived by her sisters Marisa, Aileen and Sheila.

Lucinda’s legacy is her children and all those who have had even a moment with her.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Lucinda’s name to Every Mother Counts, a non-profit dedicated to making pregnancy and childbirth safe for every mother everywhere. Please donate at everymothercounts.org or send a check to Every Mother Counts at 180 Varick Street, Suite 1116, New York, NY 10014.