Lucy Saroyan (January 17, 1946 – April 11, 2003) was an American actress and photographer.

Life and career

Saroyan was born in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, the daughter of the writer

William Saroyan William Saroyan (; August 31, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film ''The ...

and the actress Carol Grace. Her brother is writer Aram Saroyan. Following her parents' second divorce, her mother married the actor Walter Matthau and Lucy later worked alongside her stepfather in a number of his films. She also played small parts on Broadway,

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 ...

, and on TV, in addition to working as a film library

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can cons ...

. Her most notable film role was in

Paul Schrader Paul Joseph Schrader (; born July 22, 1946) is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first became known for writing the screenplay of Martin Scorsese's ''Taxi Driver'' (1976). He later continued his collaboration with Scor ...

's 1978 film ''

Blue Collar A blue-collar worker is a person who performs manual labor or skilled trades. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involve manufacturing, retail, warehousing, mining, carpentry, electrical work, custodia ...

'', in which she played

Harvey Keitel Harvey Keitel ( ; born May 13, 1939) is an American actor and film producer, known for his portrayal of morally ambiguous and "tough guy" characters. He rose to prominence during the New Hollywood movement, and has held a long-running associatio ...

's wife.

Death and legacy

She died in

Thousand Oaks, California Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, located in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles. Approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, it is named after the many oak trees pr ...

, on April 11, 2003, at the age of 57 from cirrhosis of the liver caused by

hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection period, people often have mild or no symptoms. Early symptoms can include ...

. Her mother died three months later. Lucy Saroyan's personal papers, including dozens of letters and postcards to and from her father from early childhood until their eventual estrangement, are archived in the Fresno County Public Library. The collection also comprises hundreds of personal snapshots of Lucy and her entertainment industry friends and acquaintances, and contact sheets from Lucy's early professional modeling sessions. Among the latter are portraits of Lucy and her brother Aram as children, and of Lucy as a young woman by

Richard Avedon Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He worked for ''Harper's Bazaar'', '' Vogue'' and '' Elle'' specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater and ...

Filmography

*''The Grass Roots'' "Bella Linda Video"(1967) *'' Isadora'' (1968) - (uncredited) *'' Some Kind of a Nut'' (1969) - Samantha *'' Cactus Flower'' (1969) - Dancer (uncredited) *''

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

'' (1970) *'' Kotch'' (1971) - Sissy *'' The Taking of Pelham One Two Three'' (1974) - Coed #2 (Hostage) *'' Columbo: Old Fashioned Murder'' (1976, TV) - Elise *''American Raspberry'' (1977) - Connie *'' Greased Lightning'' (1977) - Hutch's Wife *''

'' (1978) - Arlene Bartowski *''

Hopscotch Hopscotch is a playground game in which players toss a small object, called a lagger, into numbered triangles or a pattern of rectangles outlined on the ground and then hop or jump through the spaces and retrieve the object. It is a children's ...

'' (1980) - Carla *'' Xanadu'' (1980) - Roller-skater *''

The Little Rascals ''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, who also pr ...

'' (1994) - Lucy *'' Uptown Girls'' (2003) - Lulu (final film role)

References

External links

* 1946 births 2003 deaths Actresses from San Francisco American film actresses Deaths from cirrhosis Saroyan family Photographers from San Francisco 21st-century American women {{US-film-actor-1940s-stub