Largo Woodruff (born July 18, 1955) is an American actress who appeared in numerous films in the 1980s. She began her career appearing in commercials before landing a bit part in

Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...

's ''

Stardust Memories ''Stardust Memories'' is a 1980 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen, who stars alongside Charlotte Rampling, Jessica Harper, Marie-Christine Barrault, and Tony Roberts. Sharon Stone has a brief role, in her film de ...

'' (1980). Her first major featured role was in

Tobe Hooper Willard Tobe Hooper (; January 25, 1943 – August 26, 2017) was an American filmmaker, best known for his work in the horror film, horror genre. The British Film Institute cited Hooper as one of the most influential horror filmmakers of al ...

's slasher film '' The Funhouse'' (1981). She also appeared in the controversial television film ''The Choice'' (1981), as well as the biopic '' Bill'' (1981) and its 1983

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

. Also in 1981, she was one of the main characters in the

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...

movie Coward of the county, based on the song of the same name.

Life and career

Early life

Largo Woodruff was born July 18, 1955 in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

to Wallace and Maxine Woodruff, the second of three children. She has one elder sister, Allegro, a writer, and a younger brother, Lento, a carpenter and offshore oil rigger. Woodruff's father was a professional orchestra musician, and her parents named her and her brothers after musical

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

s, with her name, ''Largo'', meaning a wide or broadly slow tempo. Woodruff was raised in the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone (), also known as just the Canal Zone, was a International zone#Concessions, concession of the United States located in the Isthmus of Panama that existed from 1903 to 1979. It consisted of the Panama Canal and an area gene ...

from age 2. As a child, she studied various dance as well as cello and guitar. At age 18, she relocated to New York City with the hopes of becoming an actress, and enrolled at the

American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a Private college, private drama school with two locations, one in New York City and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related ...

Career

After relocating to New York, Woodruff was hired as a dancer in an

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 tha ...

theatrical production, and also began acting in commercials, appearing in television advertisements for

A&W Root Beer A&W Root Beer is an American brand of root beer that was founded in 1919 by Roy W. Allen – A&W root beer's official history and primarily available in the United States and Canada. Allen partnered with Frank Wright in 1922, creating the A&W ...

Kraft Foods Kraft Foods Group, Inc. was an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate (company), conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. on October 1, 2012, and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz on July ...

, and Ruffles. She had minor

bit part In acting, a bit part is a role in which there is direct interaction with the principal actors and no more than five lines of dialogue, often referred to as a five-or-less or under-five in the United States, or under sixes in British televisio ...

s in ''

Fingers A finger is a prominent digit on the forelimbs of most tetrapod vertebrate animals, especially those with prehensile extremities (i.e. hands) such as humans and other primates. Most tetrapods have five digits (pentadactyly), Chambers 1998 p. 60 ...

'' (1978) and

's ''

'' (1980). Also in 1980, she appeared in an ''

ABC Afterschool Special ''ABC Afterschool Special'' is an American anthology television series that aired on ABC from October 4, 1972, to January 23, 1997, usually in the late afternoon on weekdays. Most episodes were dramatically presented situations, often controve ...

'' entitled "Stoned." Her first major feature film role was as Liz Duncan in

's slasher film '' The Funhouse'' (1981), filmed in Miami. She also appeared in the controversial television drama film ''The Choice'' (1981) opposite

Susan Clark Susan Clark (born Nora Golding; March 8, 1943) is a Canadians, Canadian actress. She made her big screen debut in the 1967 drama film ''Banning (film), Banning'' and the following year played the female lead in the crime thriller ''Coogan's Bluf ...

and

Mitchell Ryan Mitchell Ryan (January 11, 1934 – March 4, 2022) was an American actor. His six decades of television credits, he is best known for playing Burke Devlin in the 1960s gothic subculture, gothic soap opera ''Dark Shadows'', and later for his co- ...

, which followed a young woman who undergoes an abortion. The same year, she had a leading role in the television film '' Bill'', a biopic about

Bill Sackter William Sackter (April 13, 1913 – June 16, 1983) was an American man with an intellectual disability whose fame as the subject of two television movies and a feature-length documentary helped change national attitudes on persons with dis ...

starring

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Ninnian Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nearly nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last survivi ...

and

Dennis Quaid Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for his starring roles in '' Breaking Away'' (1979), '' The Right Stuff'' (1983), '' The Big Easy'' (1986), '' Innerspace'' (1987), '' Great Balls of Fire!'' (1989), ' ...

. She reprised her role for the film's sequel, '' Bill: On His Own'' (1983). In 1986, Woodruff appeared in a supporting role in the rape and revenge film ''

The Ladies Club ''The Ladies Club'' is a 1986 American rape and revenge film directed by Janet Greek (under the pseudonym A.K. Allen), and starring Karen Austin, Diana Scarwid, Christine Belford and Bruce Davison Bruce Allen Davison (born June 28, 1946) ...

'', and in 1990 had a role in '' Perry Mason: The Case of the Poisoned Pen''. She subsequently appeared in the television film '' Bare Essentials'' (1991) and ''Taking the Heat'' (1993). Woodruff had a minor role in the 1999 drama film ''My Last Love'', and subsequently appeared in a bit part in the horror film '' Jeepers Creepers 2'' (2003).

Filmography

Film

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodruff, Largo 1955 births Actresses from Florida Actresses from New Jersey American film actresses American stage actresses Living people 21st-century American women