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Chris Anne Affleck, the mother of Oscar winners Ben and Casey Affleck, has died at 83.
She passed away peacefully on June 2, just two days after attending her grandson Atticus's high school graduation, a milestone she had called her greatest wish following her pancreatic cancer diagnosis last December.
According to her obituary, doctors gave her six months to live, and she made sure to spend that time surrounded by family.
Born Christopher Anne Boldt in New York City in 1942, Chris graduated from Harvard and spent 35 years teaching public school before retiring in 2008. She was also a lifelong activist, joining the Freedom Summer campaign in Mississippi in 1964 to teach literacy classes, later campaigning for Barack Obama, and serving on boards for causes ranging from water justice in Palestine to sustainability projects in Massachusetts.
She married Timothy Affleck and welcomed Ben in 1972 and Casey in 1975 before divorcing when Ben was 12. Both sons credited her with supporting their early acting careers. Ben once recalled that a Harvard roommate of his mother, casting director Patty Collins, helped him land his first auditions.
Chris was by her sons' side during some of their biggest career moments, including the 1998 Oscars when Ben and Matt Damon won Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting. "We were sitting next to our moms and we won, and we kind of hugged our moms," Ben remembered in Vanity Fair. "Of course, our moms were gonna go. That was really innocent and not faked."
Her pride extended to her grandchildren: Indiana, Violet, Atticus, Fin, and Sam, with her obituary noting she was "delighted when they questioned, defied, or cleverly engaged authority."
Ben would go on to win a second Oscar in 2013 for Argo, while Casey earned Best Actor in 2017 for Manchester by the Sea. Through it all, Chris remained a steady presence, described by her sons as deeply supportive and quietly influential.
Her family says she died "suitably proud" of her descendants' achievements, but most of all grateful to have witnessed Atticus's graduation before her passing.
