Rutanya Alda (born Rūta Skrastiņa; October 13, 1942) is a

Latvian-American Latvian Americans are Americans who are of Latvian ancestry. According to the 2008 American Community Survey, there are 93,498 Americans of full or partial Latvian descent. History The first significant wave of Latvian settlers who immigrated ...

actress. She began her career in the late 1960s, and went on to have supporting parts in '' The Deer Hunter'' (1978), '' Rocky II'' (1979), and ''

Mommie Dearest ''Mommie Dearest'' is a memoir and exposé written by Christina Crawford, the adopted daughter of actress Joan Crawford. Published in 1978, it attracted much controversy for its portrayal of Joan Crawford as a cruel, unbalanced, and alcoholic m ...

'' (1981). She also appeared in a lead role in the horror films '' Amityville II: The Possession'' and '' Girls Nite Out'' (both 1982).

Life

Rutanya Alda was born Rutanja Skrastiņa (Rūta Skrastiņa) in Riga, in German-occupied Latvia, the daughter of Vera ( ''née'' Ozoliņa), a businesswoman, and Jānis Skrastiņš, a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

. Alda, her grandmother, her mother and her brother spent seven years in a displaced persons camp in

Allied-occupied Germany Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Franc ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. She then relocated with her family to the United States, briefly living in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

before settling in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Career

With a career spanning nearly 50 years in show business and over 100 roles, Alda might be best known for her performances in ''The Deer Hunter'' as Steven's wife, Angela, as well as for the

cult classic A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

''Mommie Dearest'', as loyal Crawford housekeeper Carol Ann, and ''Amityville II: The Possession'', having been nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award two years in succession (1982 and 1983) for the latter roles. She has also won a Clio and is a member of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

. Additionally, Alda has appeared in numerous television programs, such as ''

Cold Case A cold case is a crime, or a suspected crime, that has not yet been fully resolved and is not the subject of a current criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, new or r ...

'' and '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', and as a featured character in the Ron Perlman/

Linda Hamilton Linda Carroll Hamilton (born September 26, 1956) is an American actress. She played Sarah Connor in the '' Terminator'' film series and Catherine Chandler in the television series ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1987–1990), for which she was nomina ...

TV series ''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...

'', as well as commercials and stage work. In 2009, she appeared in ''

Stolen Stolen may refer to: * ''Stolen'' (2009 Australian film), a 2009 Australian film * ''Stolen'' (2009 American film), a 2009 American film * ''Stolen: The Baby Kahu Story'' (2010 film), a film based on the real life kidnapping of baby Kahu Durie ...

'', playing the elder version of Jessica Chastain's character, and had a supporting role in the horror film ''

Late Phases ''Late Phases'' is a 2014 horror drama film by director Adrián García Bogliano and his first feature film in the English language. The film had its world premiere on March 9, 2014, at South by Southwest and stars Nick Damici as a blind war vet ...

'' (2014). Between 2014 and 2016, Alda appeared in the web series ''

Old Dogs & New Tricks ''Old Dogs & New Tricks'' is a web series created by Leon Acord, and starring Acord, Curt Bonnem, David Pevsner and Jeffrey Patrick Olson. The comedy-drama series is about four middle-aged gay men living in "youth-obsessed West Hollywood". Cast ...

''.

Personal life

She was married to actor Richard Bright from 1977 until his death in 2006, when he was hit by a bus in New York City. They had one son, Jeremy.

Filmography

Film

Select television roles

Web

*''

'' (2014–16) - Barbara Fiere

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alda, Rutanya 1942 births Living people American film actresses American television actresses Latvian World War II refugees Soviet emigrants to the United States Actors from Riga 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses