Tedde Moore, the actress who played the stern Miss Shields in A Christmas Story, has died at 79, Rolling Stone reports. According to a statement posted on her official Facebook page, Moore died on Wednesday, August 5, surrounded by family in Huntsville, Muskoka, Ontario, overlooking Fairy Lake.
In Bob Clark's 1983 film, Moore's Miss Shields is the icy schoolteacher who slashed Ralphie's essay about wanting a Red Ryder BB gun and, in one of cinema's most cringe-inducing moments, watched as Flick's tongue froze to the flagpole. She earned a Genie Award nomination for the supporting actress role opposite a young Peter Billingsley.
Moore reprised Miss Shields in 1994's My Summer Story, also directed by Clark and based on Jean Shepherd's 1966 novel. She later played Mrs. Claus in 2011's Mistletoe Over Manhattan and appeared in Magical Christmas Ornaments in 2017.
Her career extended beyond Christmas movies. Moore appeared on Friday the 13th: The Series, RoboCop: Prime Detectives, and played Nanny Shaw in the 2011 miniseries The Kennedys.
Moore was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2009. The Facebook statement described her as displaying "bravery," noting she was "forever the teacher" with "a quote for every occasion." Her family emphasized the grace with which she navigated her final years.
For millennial and Gen X viewers, Moore's Miss Shields embodies strict 1950s educational authority. Her death closes a chapter on A Christmas Story's legacy, a film that has only grown more beloved with each passing year as families return to it annually.
