Cloris’ daughter to attend 2026 Cloris Awards
8/5/2026
Recalling the 2016 Cloris Awards, and Dinah Englund returning for the 2026 event celebrating the 100th anniversary of Cloris Leachman’s birth. Photo credit: Cloris Awards.
Each year, a bounty of local theatres in the Greater Des Moines area produces dozens of shows. Celebrating these performances beginning in 2015, The Cloris Leachman Excellence in Theatre Arts Awards has become a pinnacle event for recognition. These awards provide a rare time when not only representatives from these companies convene but for the public to witness each year’s memorable gathering. As this awards event continues to grow, more and more patrons have come to savor the euphoric atmosphere created when performers, technicians and production personnel celebrate each other’s achievements from the previous season.
The Cloris Awards convene at a new venue, Drake’s Sheslow Auditorium, on Sunday, Aug. 30. Hosted by award-winning actors Mary Bricker and Micheal Davenport, this year features a returning honoree. The evening will be filled with lively showmanship from the hosts and select musical performances.
Honoring the famous 2016 event when her mother and namesake for the awards attended, daughter Dinah Englund returns to Des Moines as a guest of honor. She shared some time and her thoughts about her famous mother and the Cloris Awards.
Dinah Englund talks about her return to the Cloris Awards
CS: Please recall memories from that 2016 Cloris Awards visit to Des Moines.
DE: Oh, there are so many memories. How do I describe them? I have a picture of being there, in that auditorium, and gold and black and being with her. Everywhere we go, it’s like this. She was beloved and an icon and a legend. She absolutely was and will continue to be. That we were in Des Moines was really special because my mom was definitely “you could take the girl out of Des Moines, but you couldn’t take Des Moines out of the girl.” To be home and with her extended family, that was the most important thing to her. Even times when she was working with Jack Nicholson and she would say, “Can you believe it? I’m working with Jack Nicholson,” and I’d say, “What’s wrong with you? Yes, I can believe it.” That’s the way she was when she was asked about these awards — “Can you believe it? They have an award named after me.” That’s the Des Moines in her. I felt more about how warm she felt, and how cared for she felt, how beloved she felt and how joyous she felt in the moment of being there with all the people.
CS: Yours was a unique role with your mother, and one the public will never be able to fully understand or appreciate. Please talk about that relationship.
DE: I can’t give a specific. It was just love all around her. It’s hard for me to say what happened there at the 2026 Awards. It was a whirlwind. I remember that. After four brothers, she had me, the only girl and that last one. She kind of put me in her back pocket, and away we went and we never looked back, and that’s my experience of my life with her. I’ve been her caretaker, her manager, her best friend and everything in her life. We were joined at the hips. I probably wasn’t just sitting in the audience and enjoying the show. I was responsible for getting her everywhere and on time. That was my focus. My whole identity was wrapped around my mother until she died. And that’s how it was for many, many years.
CS: Talk about attending the 2026 Cloris Awards.
DE: I am so excited to represent her and to be coming to these awards. I remember we had a blast last time. Also to represent that it is her 100th birthday. Five years ago, when she passed, I was in too much grief, but now I can handle it. It’s her 100th birthday, and we’re going to have a wild good time because I’m her daughter and you can bet your ass, we’re going to have a wild good time.
Preparing next-gen theatre people
Tallgrass Theatre Company’s Seedlings Children’s Theatre still has two weeks of summer camps available. Aug. 3-7 are two week-long camps, “Mainstage Ninjas” and “Story Alchemy: The Art of Storytelling” followed by five one-day camps the week of Aug. 10-14. Full details at the Tallgrass Theatre website.
The Des Moines Playhouse’s Education programming is nationally recognized and has several class offerings the weeks of Aug. 3 and Aug. 10. These engaging classes offer different age groups acting, stagecraft and production learning opportunities. Check out their website for full details and availability. ♦
John Busbee produces The Culture Buzz, a weekly arts and culture radio show on www.kfmg.org, covering Iowa’s arts scene with an inclusive sweep of the cultural brush. He received the Iowa Governor’s Arts Award for Collaboration and Partnership in the Arts. He has performed in more than 100 musicals, including many leading roles.
