The 66-year-old artist was discovered buried under a pile of garbage in her apartment in New York City after reported missing since September 2020, but her sister hopes Evelyn isn't remembered as a 'hoarder.'
- Apr 1, 2021
AceShowbiz - An Emmy-winning production designer, who was known to be a hoarder, has been found dead under debris in her home. Evelyn Sakash was discovered lying on her kitchen floor buried under a pile of garbage inside her apartment in New York City, six months after she had disappeared. She was 66.
On Tuesday, March 30, Evelyn's sister Ellen Broan hired a cleaning company to clean her apartment in College Point on 123 Street, Queens, to see if she was inside. The sister and the cleaners discovered Evelyn's mummified body in the afternoon around 4:15 P.M.
A police missing report said Evelyn was last seen alive on September 30, 2020. The city medical examiner's office will determine her cause of death, but police don't suspect foul play involved in her death.
Evelyn was a production designer, art director and set decorator for 25 years. Her credits including 1990 film "Mermaids", 2014's "Still Alice", "Orange Is the New Black" in 2015 and most recently 2016's TV movie "Once in a Lifetime". She won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design for "Between the Lions" in 2003 and was nominated again in 2004.
Madeline O'Connell Hartling, who worked with Evelyn in the art department on "OITNB", remembered her former colleague as a "kind, loving, and generous friend and sister." She told the Daily News of Evelyn's image as a hoarder, "I had no idea that she was living in her home like that."
She added, "It was part of her life but it was not all of it so I hope she can be remembered more charitably... She should be remembered by the contributions made to the industry and with the kindness she approached everyone she knew."
Evelyn's sister Ellen said her passing "is just devastating," adding, "She had a full life. She was so extraordinarily talented. She was a brilliant mind." Of the headline describing Evelyn as a hoarder, she commented, "I don't want my sister to be remembered like that, like the way she was found."
She went on explaining the circumstances surrounding Evelyn's death, "This was clearly in effect for a long time. She sometimes kept people at bay. The headline says 'Queens hoarder,' but that's not who she is."
