Tisa Farrow dies at 72: Mia Farrow announces actress sister died unexpectedly 'in her sleep' in touching tribute: 'She was the best of us'

Mia Farrow confirmed in an emotional post on Instagram that her actress sister Tisa Farrow has passed away at the age of 72.

Theresa Magdalena 'Tisa' Farrow was an American actress and model known for her role in the Italian horror films Zombie Flesh Eaters and The Grim Reaper.

She also appeared in Woody Allen's classic 1979 comedy Manhattan, just before he began a romantic relationship with Mia.

Mia, 78, heartbrokenly announced that her sister had died 'unexpectedly' and 'apparently in her sleep' on Wednesday.

“If there is a heaven, it will undoubtedly welcome my beautiful sister Tisa,” Mia wrote in her touching tribute on social media.

'She was the best of us – I have never met a more generous and loving person. She loved life and never complained. Someday,” Mia added.

“She was a nurse for 27 years, a wonderful sister to Steffi, Prudence and me, a devoted mother to Jason, who died in Iraq, Bridget and grandson Kylor – the lights of her life,” Tisa's grieving sister wrote Thursday.

'She passed away unexpectedly yesterday morning. Apparently in her sleep. This is a difficult time for all of us who admire and love her so deeply.”

Born in Los Angeles in 1951, six years after Mia, Tia was the youngest of seven siblings born into their Hollywood family.

Their father was director John Farrow, who co-wrote the Oscar-winning 1956 film Around The World In Eighty Days, starring David Niven and Shirley MacLaine.

Meanwhile, their mother was Maureen O'Sullivan, who was the Jane to Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan in six films in the 1930s and 1940s.

Tisa dropped out of high school in her freshman year and entered the family business, working as an actress with limited success.

“I have no benefits,” she told the newspaper New York Times in 1970, six years after Mia became famous for her role on the soap opera Peyton Place.

“I've been around town for a long time trying to advertise, but I haven't gotten any. “I always met a career woman who immediately hated me because she didn't like my sister Mia,” Tisa said.

Mia had become a lightning rod of controversy at this point due to her failed marriage to the considerably older Frank Sinatra, as well as her out-of-wedlock pregnancy by acclaimed composer and conductor André Previn.

Tisa, who somberly referred to herself as “the fat one in the family” despite her slender build, was 18 when she made her film debut in the 1970 coming-of-age drama Homer, set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. .

Her career progressed promisingly in the early 1970s, when she co-starred with French film star Jean-Louis Trintignant in the crime drama And Hope To Die and Richard Pryor in the erotic romance Some Call It Loving.

As Mia went from strength to strength in Hollywood, Tisa took projects abroad, such as the Italian-Canadian film Strange Shadows In An Empty Room.

At home in America, Tisa starred with Harvey Keitel in James Toback's feature debut Fingers, and with Morgan Fairchild in the TV horror film The Initiation Of Sarah.

In Italy she made waves in the horror genre with the 1979 film Zombi 2, also known as Zombie Flesh Eaters, and the 1980 cannibal film Antropophagus, also known as The Grim Reaper.

Eventually, Tisa left show business and worked as a nurse for 27 years, according to the obituary Mia posted on social media.

On a personal note, Tisa married film producer Terry Deane, with whom she welcomed a son named Jason and a daughter named Bridget.

Tragedy struck the family in 2008 when Jason died of non-combat causes after twenty years of military service in Baghdad.

“He volunteered for every war there was while he was there, whether it was Haiti, Serbia or Bosnia,” Terry told the Associated Press after Jason's death.

According to the available information on Find a graveAn autopsy reportedly revealed that Jason's system contained high levels of the antidepressant Citalopram, which Terry said he was prescribed for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Although she made her mark in horror films in Italy, Tisa had an ambition in the genre that she was never able to realize.

“I want to direct a great horror movie before I die,” she said at age 18. “The movie will be shot in New York, with vampires and Central Park in it, and I'll be the star.”