The illness became terminal, and she died on January 20, 2012, five days before her 74th birthday, at Riverside Community Hospital in Riverside, California.
Začiatkom roku 2011 jej bola diagnostikovaná leukémia, na ktorú dňa 20. januára 2012 zomrela, a to iba 5 dní pred jej 74. narodeninami, v nemocnici Riverside Community Hospital v Riverside v Kalifornii.