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Is Mary Beth Peil dead? Michelle Williams sparks concern after paying tribute to actress at Gotham Awards

Michelle Williams paid an emotional tribute to her former 'Dawson's Creek' co-star Mary Beth Peil at the Gotham Awards in NYC on Monday, November 28

CIPRIANI WALL STREET, NEW YORK: Michelle Williams paid an emotional tribute to her former 'Dawson's Creek' co-star Mary Beth Peil at the Gotham Awards in NYC on Monday, November 28, sparking concerns over whether the actress is dead. Peil, however, is reportedly alive and well. Fans were left baffled after Michelle, 42, who played Jen Lindley in the show from 1998-2003 alongside 82-year-old Peil as Evelyn 'Grams' Ryan, paid tribute to the actress.

Accepting the Film Tribute Award, Michelle said, "Whenever something good happens for me in my life, I can draw a straight line back to somebody who was meant to be here tonight but, being a New Yorker, means living in a reality that you are definitely not in control of — so she's not in the room, but she's in my heart."

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Michelle said she was an "emancipated minor" when she met Peil. She added, "I was 16 years old, and I was totally alone. Mary Beth Peil was the first artist that I had ever met in my life. She didn't call herself that, but there was something different about her. It was the way she asked questions, the way that she leaned into conversations, and how excited she seemed for every moment of every day on our TV set.  And I didn't know what this ineffable quality was, but I knew I wanted to pull my chair closer to hers."

I wouldn't have known how to handle being Steven Spielberg's mother [in The Fabelmans] without having been Mary Beth's granddaughter, so thank you Mary Beth, and thank you Gotham Awards for this," Michelle said, convincing a number of fans that Peil might be dead. At present, Peil is appearing in off-Broadway show 'A Man Of No Importance'.

After the speech, one user wrote on Twitter, "no-one would possibly come away from this speech thinking Mary Beth Peil is still alive (she is lmao)". "It is a great speech, but made me freak out for a second, as I was pretty sure I didn't hear about Mary Beth Peil passing away, but I guess she just meant she literally physically couldn't be there," one user wrote. The same user added in another tweet, "And apparently the longer version of the clip specifically says Peil was SUPPOSED to be there, but she couldn't make it at the last minute." "Very happy about all the Mary Beth Peil tweets but now I’m nervous," one user wrote.

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