Mary Rivera, ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Actress, Dies at 82

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Mary Rivera, ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Actress, Dies at 82

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Variety · 4 hours ago

Mary Rivera, who played the grandmother of Jacob Batalon's character Ned in "Spider-Man: No Way Home," has died at the age of 82. According to her obituary, Rivera was born in Iloilo, Philippines, on 2 June 1943 and died on 15 April in Honolulu, Hawaii, with a family member telling TMZ she had suffered a stroke and was placed on life support before her death.

Rivera's brief but memorable scene saw her interrupt a tense multiverse standoff between Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker, Ned and Zendaya's MJ, asking, via Ned's translation, that Garfield's Spider-Man climb the ceiling to clean a hard-to-reach cobweb. Her family said she was "extremely proud" of the role, which she considered one of her most cherished accomplishments. She is survived by her husband, Alejandro Rivera, and her children Carmela Jones, Paul Rivera, Edwin Rivera and Angela Kelly, and has been remembered in tributes from friends and colleagues.

  • "Spider-Man: No Way Home" actress Mary Rivera has died aged 82.
  • She played Ned's grandmother in a memorable multiverse scene.
  • Died 15 April in Honolulu after a stroke; survived by husband and four children.

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Mary Rivera was a Filipino-American actress who appeared in the 2021 blockbuster "Spider-Man: No Way Home," one of the highest-grossing films in the Marvel franchise. She played the grandmother of Ned Leeds, the character portrayed by Jacob Batalon, in a short but well-remembered comic scene involving Andrew Garfield's version of Spider-Man.

Born in Iloilo in the Philippines in 1943, Rivera later settled in Hawaii, where she died in April at the age of 82. Her family said she had suffered a stroke before her death.

The film franchise brought together three different actors who have played Spider-Man – Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire – across separate "multiverse" storylines, and Rivera's scene became a small but notable part of that story. Her death has prompted tributes from family, friends and colleagues who worked with her.

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