Susan Florence Anspach (; November 23, 1942 – April 2, 2018) was an American stage, film and television actress, who was best known for her roles in films during the 1970s and 1980s such as '' Five Easy Pieces'' (1970), '' Play It Again, Sam'' (1972), '' Blume in Love'' (1973), ''

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = ...

'' (1981), '' Blue Monkey'' (1987), and '' Blood Red'' (1989).

Early life

Anspach was born and raised in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, New York City. Her mother was Gertrude (), a secretary and singer. Her father was Renald Anspach, a World War II Army veteran and later factory worker, who was of German-Jewish and English descent. The couple met at the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Pur ...

. Anspach's grandfather had disapproved of the marriage and disowned his daughter. Anspach was raised by her great aunt until Anspach was six, when her aunt died. She went back to live with her parents in what grew to be an abusive home; she left at age 15. With the help of a Roman Catholic organization, she moved in with a family in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...

. Anspach graduated from William Cullen Bryant High School in

Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to th ...

in 1960. She received a full scholarship to the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U. ...

in Washington, DC. She studied music and drama. Anspach made her professional debut in

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays '' Our Town'' and '' The Skin of Our Teeth'' — ...

's one-act play ''Pullman Car Hiawatha'' at a summer theater in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

. After college, she moved back to New York City.

Career

Anspach starred in several Broadway and

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

shows, including as the female lead (Sheila) in the musical '' Hair''. The musical ran for 45 performances at the Cheetah Theatre. She was in a play with

Al Pacino Alfredo James Pacino (; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Al Pacino, numerous accolades: including an Aca ...

while at the

Actors Studio The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street between Ninth and Tenth avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founde ...

. Anspach first came to prominence in the 1970 film '' Five Easy Pieces'', directed by Bob Rafelson and starring Jack Nicholson.

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death i ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called her "one of America's most charming and talented actresses". She followed this with a supporting role in

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

's '' Play It Again, Sam'' (1972) and a more prominent role in Paul Mazursky's romantic comedy '' Blume in Love'' (1973), alongside George Segal and

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are "Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and " Help Me Make It Through the Ni ...

. Anspach originally was cast in the role of country singer Barbara Jean in the 1975 film ''

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

'', but her salary request exceeded the ensemble film's budget; she was replaced by Ronee Blakley. She starred off-Broadway in 1965 in '' A View from the Bridge'' with

Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career spans more than seven decades and he is considered one of the greatest American actors of all time. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, four Gold ...

, Jon Voight, and Dustin Hoffman. In her film career, Anspach starred in 19 features and eight television movies and also was featured in two series, '' The Yellow Rose'' and ''

The Slap Maxwell Story ''The Slap Maxwell Story'' (sometimes seen in print as ''The "Slap" Maxwell Story'') is a sitcom broadcast in the United States by ABC as part of its 1987–88 lineup. It starred Dabney Coleman as "Slap" Maxwell, an egocentric sportswriter for a ...

'' (with Dabney Coleman). She guest-starred in the NBC romantic anthology series ''

Love Story Love Story or A Love Story may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres * Romance (love) ** Romance film ** Romance novel Films * ''Love Story'' (1925 film), German silent film * ''Love Story'' (1942 film), Italian drama film * ''Love ...

'' in 1973, in the episode " All My Tomorrows".

Personal life

Anspach was Roman Catholic. She said that the church and her

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: + . is a set of Theory, theories and Therapy, therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a bo ...

were her "parents" for close to 10 years of her youth. Anspach had a daughter, Catherine Curry (born October 15, 1968) with fellow ''Hair'' cast member Steve Curry. She had a son, Caleb Goddard (born September 26, 1970), whom she claimed was fathered by actor Jack Nicholson. She married actor Mark Goddard in June 1970 and divorced him in October 1978. Goddard adopted both children. Anspach married musician Sherwood Ball (son of musician-entrepreneur Ernie Ball) in 1982 and divorced him in 1988.Sherwood Ball
''stormalliancemedia.com''.

Activism

Anspach marched with United Farm Workers head Cesar Chavez. She protested the racist

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

system of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

. Anspach also advocated for human rights in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

Death

Anspach died from

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

on April 2, 2018, aged 75, in her Los Angeles home.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

Citations

Sources

* *

External links

* *
Susan Anspach
at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

'
Actors Studio audio collection
*
Susan Anspach
Aveleyman) {{DEFAULTSORT:Anspach, Susan 1942 births 2018 deaths 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from New York City American film actresses American people of German-Jewish descent American stage actresses American television actresses Catholic University of America alumni Catholics from New York (state) People from Queens, New York People from Harlem William Cullen Bryant High School alumni Deaths from congestive heart failure