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Susan Anspach

Highest Rated: 97% Play It Again, Sam (1972)

Lowest Rated: 17% The Devil and Max Devlin (1981)

Birthday: Nov 23, 1942

Birthplace: Queens, New York, USA

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.

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Highest rated movies

97% 89% Play It Again, Sam
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93% 79% The Landlord
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89% 84% Five Easy Pieces
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88% 77% Montenegro
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88% 51% The Big Fix
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88% 76% Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One
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70% 53% Blume in Love
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17% 25% The Devil and Max Devlin
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The Journey of the Fifth Horse
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American Primitive
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Filmography

Movies

Credit
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 50% Into the Fire Rosalind Winfield (Character) - 1987
No Score Yet No Score Yet Heaven and Earth Karen McKeon (Character) - 1987
No Score Yet 32% 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 90% 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% 25% The Devil and Max Devlin Penny Hart (Character) - 1981
88% 77% 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% 51% 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% 53% Blume in Love Nina Blume (Character) - 1973
97% 89% Play It Again, Sam Nancy Felix (Character) - 1972
93% 79% The Landlord Susan Enders (Character) - 1970
89% 84% Five Easy Pieces Catherine Van Oost (Character) - 1970
88% 76% Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One Self - 1968
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Journey of the Fifth Horse Unknown (Character) - 1966

TV

Credit
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