Cloris Leachman has a method to her madness on the new Fox comedy "Raising Hope."
"I took care of my mother-in-law for the last three years of her life, and she had Alzheimer's disease," says Leachman, who steals scenes as a demented great-grandmother, simply called Maw Maw on the sitcom (8 p.m. Tuesdays). "So I know all about Alzheimer's."
Leachman's mother-in-law was actress Mabel Albertson, better known as Darrin Stephens' mother on the classic sitcom "Bewitched."
"I loved her," Leachman says. "She'd feed her dog 40 times a day. She'd try to feed it kitty litter."
While Leachman, 84, realizes Alzheimer's is nothing to laugh about -- and the series has never addressed whether her character actually has the disease -- she is drawing from her mother-in-law's behavior for her character.
"She was so darling and so lovely and always kept her sense of humor," Leachman says. "She never lost her [comedic] timing."
Playing such an outrageous character is nothing new for Leachman. Her résumé spans more than 60 years and includes politically incorrect moments -- from the zaniness of Mel Brooks comedies ("Young Frankenstein" and "High Anxiety") to her recent stint on "Dancing With the Stars" (in which she lifted her leg high in the air to reveal too much of herself to the judges).
Maw Maw lives in the past and often walks around without a shirt, much to the dismay of family members, who have to pull her in and ask her to put the blouse back on.
