Rebecca Luker.Photo: Michael Loccisano/FilmMagic
Rebecca Luker, the Broadway star who captivated audiences in revivals such asThe Music ManandMary Poppins, has died. She was 59.
Luker’s agent Sarah Fargo confirmed toThe New York Timesthe actress had died on Wednesday in a hospital in Manhattan.
Fargo did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
In February, Luker revealed on Twittershe had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease.
“Hello friends. I have some tough news.Late last year I was diagnosed with ALS,” Luker tweeted at the time. “I have the best medical care in the world and the greatest support.
She thanked her “dear husband” Danny Burstein, also a Broadway star whom she married in 2000. “[He’s] been an angel.”
Luker stayed positive, writing, “I will get well. In the meantime, we fight and go forward. Keep us in your thoughts.”
One of four children, Luker was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1961 and made her Broadway debut in 1988, joining the cast ofthe Phantom of the Operaas an understudy for the original star Sarah Brightman and taking over as Christine in 1989.
She received her first Tony nomination in 1995 for her role as Magnolia inShow Boatand was nominated again in 2000 for her leading role inThe Music Man. Her most recent nod came in 2007 forMary Poppins.
Rebecca Luker during the 2013 Macy’s Herald Square Christmas Window Unveiling Spectacular.Mike Pont/FilmMagic
Rebecca Luker & Michael Siberry inDeath Takes A Holiday.Walter McBride/Corbis via Getty
Throughout her career, Luker played well-known characters starring as Maria in a revival ofThe Sound of Music.Her final stage role came in the 2019 production ofFootloosewhere she played the minister’s wife. Her last performance was in June during a pre-recorded benefit performance on Zoom,At Home with Rebecca Luker.
She told theTimes, “When I sing, I think it heals me. It helps me feel like I’m still a part of something.”
In August, Burstein, 56, wrote aguest column forThe Hollywood Reporterrevealing he had become the sole caretaker for his wife after they both tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this year.
“No health care worker in their right mind would come to our home as we were both suffering with the aftereffects of the coronavirus. We were very much on our own,” he wrote. “The next month was spent pretty much alone in isolation. Despite being dizzy and in a constant state of exhaustion, I was somehow able to care for her.”
Rebecca Luker and Danny Burstein in 2019.Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images
Though the couple recovered from the virus, Burstein wrote they faced a new challenge as Luker’s ALS was “getting worse quite rapidly” amid the pandemic.
“It’s a struggle to lift her. It’s a struggle to get her into her chair,” he wrote, quoting an email he had written to a friend about their daily life in lockdown. “She hasn’t walked in nearly six months.”
“Her shoulders went, seemingly overnight. And now her hands. Their shape has changed, especially the left. But the right one is starting to curl in the same unusual fashion,” Burstein continued, saying he has to “hold back the tears” whenever he helps dress her. “I try to stretch them back into a familiar position and she says it feels good, but they fall back into their new shape.”
Despite the challenges, Burstein said he and Luker still “have hope.”
“I can’t deny her hope,” he added. “I have some, too. But I have to keep preparing for the worst. And I hate that I am preparing for the worst. But we are hoping our hopes come true.”
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source: people.com
