Susan Anspach
Susan Anspach was an American film actress who drew praise from critics for her bold performances in the acclaimed 70s films "Five Easy Pieces" (1970), "Play It Again, Sam" (1972), and "Blume in Love" (1973). Born and raised in Queens, New York, Anspach left home at the age of 15 to escape her physically abusing parents. She stayed with a family in Harlem in the ensuing years, and by the age of 18 had earned a scholarship to attend Catholic University of America. She studied music and drama at the university, and before long had fallen in love with acting. By the mid-1960s Anspach was living in New York as a struggling theater actress. Her friends and contemporaries during this period were the then-unknown New York stage actors Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight and Robert Duvall. Her first big stage acting break came in 1967 when she was cast as the lead in the original Off-Broadway version of the musical "Hair." The show was a big success and would eventually have its Broadway debut in 1968. A different actress, however, was cast as the female lead. Undeterred, by the late 60s and early 70s Anspach had begun making a name for herself as a film actress. In 1970 she appeared in Hal Ashby's "The Landlord," as well as alongside Jack Nicholson in the Oscar-nominated drama "Five Easy Pieces." Her role in the latter, as a new age pianist who makes love with Jack Nicholson's character, would go on to become Anspach's most memorable film performance. Anspach continued appearing in various well-regarded films throughout the 70s and 80s, including Woody Allen's romantic comedy "Play It Again, Sam," "Blume In Love," "Montenegro" (1981), and "Misunderstood" (1984). Her on-screen roles dwindled by the early 90s with just a few sporadic film and TV appearances in the ensuing years. Her last credited role was in the 2010 thriller "Inversion." After a noteworthy career spanning several decades and numerous memorable roles, Susan Anspach died in Los Angeles from heart failure on April 2, 2018. She was 75.
Photos
Susan Anspach
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
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No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Insect | Unknown (Character) | - | 2022 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | American Primitive | Martha (Character) | - | 2008 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Dancing at the Harvest Moon | Julia (Character) | - | 2002 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Cagney & Lacey: The Return | Unknown (Character) | - | 1994 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Rutanga Tapes | Kate Simpson (Character) | - | 1990 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Back to Back | Madeline Hix (Character) | - | 1989 |
No Score Yet |
|
Into the Fire | Rosalind Winfield (Character) | - | 1987 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Heaven and Earth | Karen McKeon (Character) | - | 1987 |
No Score Yet |
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Blue Monkey | Dr. Judith Glass (Character) | $98.8K | 1987 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Gone Are the Dayes | Phyllis Daye (Character) | - | 1984 |
No Score Yet |
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Misunderstood | Lilly (Character) | - | 1984 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The First Time | Lucy Dillon (Character) | - | 1982 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | American Eagle | Chris Butler (Character) | - | 1982 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Deadly Encounter | Chris Butler (Character) | - | 1982 |
17% |
|
The Devil and Max Devlin | Penny Hart (Character) | - | 1981 |
88% |
|
Montenegro | Marilyn Jordan (Character) | - | 1981 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Gas | Jane Beardsley (Character) | - | 1981 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Portrait of an Escort | Jordan West (Character) | - | 1980 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Running | Janet (Character) | - | 1979 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Last Giraffe | Betty Leslie-Melville (Character) | - | 1979 |
88% |
|
The Big Fix | Lila Shay (Character) | - | 1978 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Mad Bull | Christina Sebastiani (Character) | - | 1977 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Secret Life of John Chapman | Wilma (Character) | - | 1976 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | I Want to Keep My Baby | Donna Jo Martelli (Character) | - | 1976 |
70% |
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Blume in Love | Nina Blume (Character) | - | 1973 |
97% |
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Play It Again, Sam | Nancy Felix (Character) | - | 1972 |
93% |
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The Landlord | Susan Enders (Character) | - | 1970 |
89% |
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Five Easy Pieces | Catherine Van Oost (Character) | - | 1970 |
88% |
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Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One | Self | - | 1968 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Journey of the Fifth Horse | Unknown (Character) | - | 1966 |
TV
Credit | ||||
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No Score Yet | 89% | Murder, She Wrote | Lois Fricksey (Guest Star) | 1989 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Hitchhiker | Unknown (Character) | 1986 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Yellow Rose | Unknown (Character) | 1983-1984 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Love Story | Lee McKinley (Character) | 1973 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Judd for the Defense | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1969 |