Miss Cleo, the TV psychic famous for her late-night commercials with the catchphrase “Call me now!” has died at the age of 53, her representative told TMZ Tuesday.
She died Tuesday morning in a hospice center in Palm Beach County, Fla. She had been diagnosed with colon cancer and her representative said it had spread to her liver and lungs.
Her rep also told TMZ that Cleo was a “pillar of strength” while she was sick, and she died surrounded by her family and friends.
Cleo, whose real name was Youree Harris, spoke with a thick Jamaican accent on TV, but she was originally from Los Angeles.
Cleo’s career as a TV psychic started in 1997 when she became a spokeswoman for a psychic pay-per-call service in catchy and colorful commercials in the 1990s. Her run ended in 2003.
The TV psychic became famous for her ads in which she would ask viewers to call in and voice their curiosities about the otherworldly realm.
Her catchphrase “Call me now!” cemented Cleo as a cult icon.
Cleo went on to speak about her work as a psychic in two documentaries, “Becoming Psychic” and “Hotline” before voicing a character in the video game “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.”
During her time on air, Cleo was involved in a legal battle with the Federal Trade Commission over customers’ phone charges.
The Psychic Reader’s Network, which Cleo was a part of, was ordered by the FTC to waive $500 million in unpaid phone charges in 2002 after some people complained they had been incorrectly charged on their monthly phone bills.
