concussion had temporarily caused. Activism A longtime champion of hearing awareness and support of the deaf, she sat on boards and spoke at many related functions. A forward-thinking proponent of total communication and teaching the deaf language and communication in any way possible, including American Sign Language and not just the oralism method of the time, Fabray was one of, if not the first, to use sign language on [live] television, something which she continued to showcase on many programs on which she made appearances, including the Carol Burnett Show, Match Game '73, and I've Got a Secret. She even contributed the story line to an entire 1982 episode of One Day at a Time, which focused on hearing loss awareness and acceptance, treatment options, and sign language. Fabray appeared in a 1986 infomercial for hearing device and deafness support products for House Ear Institute. In 2001, she wrote to advice columnist Dear Abby to decry the loud background music played on television programs. A founding member of the National Captioning Institute, she also was one of the first big names to bring awareness to the need for media closed-captioning. Likewise, after the passing of her second husband, Randy MacDougall, Fabray also started to learn about the tribulations associated with spousal death and began to bring awareness to the need for changes in the law for widows and widowers. She focused her later years on campaigning for widows' rights, particularly pertaining to women's inheritance laws, taxes, and asset protection. Death Fabray died on February 22, 2018, at the Canterbury Nursing home in California at the age of 97 from natural causes. Honors A Tony and three-time Primetime Emmy award winner, Fabray has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1986, she received a Life Achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild. She won a Golden Apple award from the Hollywood Women's Press Club in 1960 along with Janet Leigh for being a Most Cooperative actress. She was awarded the President's Distinguished Service Award and the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award for her long efforts on behalf of the deaf and hard-of-hearing. Partial filmography Film Television Stage work The Miracle (1939) Six Characters in Search of an Author (1939) The Servant of Two Masters (1939) Meet the People (1940) Let's Face It! (1941) By Jupiter (1942) (replacement for Constance Moore) My Dear Public (1943) Jackpot (1944) Bloomer Girl (1945; 1947;