Zelda Rubinstein, best known for her role as the eccentric psychic Tangina Barrons in the Tobe Hooper film Poltergeist (1982) died yesterday in Los Angeles. Rubinstein made a brief appearance as an organist in the John Hughes film Sixteen Candles (1984) and worked regularly in movies and television until 2006.
Rubinstein was at the height of her career when she became a longtime activist for AIDS awareness. She appeared in advertisements directed at gay men promoting safe sex and attended the first AIDS walk at before it was fashionable for celebrities to do so.
Rubinstein was also outspoken on issues upholding equal treatment for people of short stature after participating in the film entitled Under the Rainbow (1981), a film Rubenstein felt degraded its extensive cast of little people.
Rubinstein’s folksy and calm portrayal of Tangina Barrons helped to ground the largely special effects driven narrative of Poltergeist. Her confidence and determination to be respected was apparent through her on camera work.

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