Tuesday Weld - actrice

Tuesday Weld (born Susan Ker Weld; August 27, 1943) is an American actress. She began acting as a child and progressed to mature roles in the late 1950s. She won a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Female Newcomer in 1960. Over the following decade, she established a career playing dramatic roles in films.



Weld often portrayed impulsive and reckless women acting out sexually, and was nominated for a Golden Globe for Play It as It Lays (1972), an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), an Emmy Award for The Winter of Our Discontent (1983), and a BAFTA for Once Upon a Time in America (1984). Since the late 1980s her acting appearances have been infrequent.

Left in financial difficulty by her husband's death, Weld's mother put Weld to work as a model to support the family. As the young actress told Life in 1971:

My father's family came from Tuxedo Park, and they offered to take us kids and pay for our education, on the condition that Mama never see us again. Mama was an orphan who had come here from London but so far as my father's family was concerned, she was strictly from the gutter. I have to give Mama credit—she refused to give us up… So I became the supporter of the family, and I had to take my father's place in many, many ways. I was expected to make up for everything that had ever gone wrong in Mama's life. She became obsessed with me, pouring out her pent-up love—her alleged love—on me, and it's been heavy on my shoulders ever since. Mama still thinks I owe everything to her.[7]

Her name became Tuesday, an extension of her childhood nickname, "Tu-Tu", so named by her young cousin, Mary Ker, who could not pronounce "Susan". She officially adopted her name in October 1959.[10]


Weld's mother secured her an agent using her résumé from modeling. She made her acting debut on television at the age of 12, and her feature film debut that year in a bit role in the 1956 Alfred Hitchcock crime drama The Wrong Man.[11]

In 1956 Weld played the lead in Rock, Rock, Rock, which featured record promoter Alan Freed and singers Chuck Berry, Frankie Lymon, and Johnny Burnette. In the film Connie Francis performed the vocals for Weld's singing parts.

On TV she appeared in an episode of Goodyear Playhouse, "Backwoods Cinderella". She understudied on Broadway in The Dark at the Top of the Stairs.

Weld was cast in a supporting role in the Paul Newman–Joanne Woodward comedy Rally Round the Flag, Boys! (1958), made by 20th Century Fox. At Paramount Pictures, Weld was in The Five Pennies (1959), playing the daughter of Danny Kaye, who called Weld "15 going on 27".[12] She guest-starred a number of times on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1958–59). She appeared in 77 Sunset Strip with Efrem Zimbalist Jr., in the 1959 episode, "Secret Island"

Weld's performance in Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! impressed executives at Fox, who signed her to a long-term contract.[13] They cast her in the CBS television series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, with a salary of $35,000 for one year.[14] Weld played Thalia Menninger, the love interest of Dobie Gillis (played by Dwayne Hickman), whose rivals for Thalia's affection included Milton Armitage (played by Warren Beatty). Although Weld was a cast member for only one season, the show created considerable national publicity for her,[15] and she was named a co-winner of a "Most Promising Newcomer" award at the Golden Globe Awards.[16][13]

At Columbia, she had a leading role in a teen film, Because They're Young (1960), starring Dick Clark. She was second billed in Sex Kittens Go to College (1960) made by Albert Zugsmith at Allied Artists. She made a second film for Zugsmith, The Private Lives of Adam and Eve, made in 1959 but not released for two years.

She guest starred on The Red Skelton Hour in "Appleby: The Big Producer" (1959) and on 77 Sunset Strip (1959) and The Millionaire (1960).

At Fox, she played Joy, a free-spirited university student in High Time, starring Bing Crosby and Fabian Forte. She sang a love song to Fabian in the season opener of NBC's The Dinah Shore Chevy Show on October 9, 1960. Four weeks later, on November 13, Weld returned to the network as a guest star in NBC's The Tab Hunter Show. She guested in "The Mormons" for Zane Grey Theatre (1960).[17]

For Fox, Weld had a supporting role in the sequel Return to Peyton Place (1961), in the part played by Hope Lange in the original. Her portrayal of an incest victim was well received, but the film was less successful than its predecessor.[7] She supported Elvis Presley in Wild in the Country (1962), along with Lange. Weld had an off-screen romance with Presley.[18]


Fox also used her as a guest star on Follow the Sun ("The Highest Wall") and Adventures in Paradise ("The Velvet Trap"). On November 12, 1961, she played a singer, Cherie, in the seventh episode of ABC's television series Bus Stop, produced by Fox, with Marilyn Maxwell and Gary Lockwood. It was an adaptation of the play by William Inge, with Weld in the role originated on screen by Marilyn Monroe.

Weld supported Terry-Thomas in the Frank Tashlin comedy Bachelor Flat (1962), for Fox. Following the film's release, she appeared on What's My Line as the celebrity mystery guest.[19]
Gossip magazine (1960) with a story about Weld and John Ireland

Weld's mother was scandalized by her teen daughter's love affairs with older men, such as actor John Ireland, but Weld resisted, saying, "'If you don't leave me alone, I'll quit being an actress—which means there ain't gonna be no more money for you, Mama'. Finally, when I was sixteen, I left home. I just went out the door and bought my own house".

She was Stanley Kubrick's first choice to play the role of Lolita in his 1962 film, but she turned the offer down, saying: "I didn't have to play it. I was Lolita".[20]

Weld took three months off to go to Greenwich Village in New York and "study myself". Then she starred along with Jackie Gleason and Steve McQueen in Soldier in the Rain, written by Blake Edwards from a novel by William Goldman, but the film was only a minor success.[21]

She won excellent reviews for a February 7, 1962, episode in the Naked City, "A Case Study of Two Savages", adapted from the real-life case of backwood killers Charles Starkweather (played by Rip Torn) and Ora Mae Youngham, (played by Weld), Starkweather's young bride, on a homicidal spree ending in New York City.[22] She guest starred on Route 66 in "Love Is a Skinny Kid" (1962), Ben Casey in "When You See an Evil Man" (1962), The Dick Powell Theatre in "A Time to Die" (1962), and "Run Till It's Dark" with Fabian (1962).

In 1963 Weld guest-starred as Denise Dunlear in The Eleventh Hour, in the episode "Something Crazy's Going on in the Back Room" alongside Angela Lansbury. She was in "The Legend of Lylah Clare" for The DuPont Show of the Week (1963), directed by Franklin J. Schaffner.
Tuesday Weld in 1964, with David Janssen in the TV series The Fugitive.

In 1964 she appeared in the title role of the episode "Keep an Eye on Emily" on Craig Stevens's CBS drama, Mr. Broadway. In the same year, she appeared as a troubled blind woman in "Dark Corner", an episode of The Fugitive.

She appeared with her former co-star Dwayne Hickman in Heck Palance's circus drama The Greatest Show on Earth on ABC, in separate episodes.

Weld supported Bob Hope in the comedy I'll Take Sweden (1965).

Weld appeared in 1965 in the successful Norman Jewison film The Cincinnati Kid, opposite Steve McQueen. There was some controversy when she refused to meet the local governor at a fund-raiser for hurricane victims, jumping out of a car in view of 70,000 people.[23] The film was a big hit.

Weld got a star role in Lord Love a Duck (1966), with Roddy McDowall, Ruth Gordon, and Harvey Korman. Weld received excellent reviews, but the film was a box office disappointment.


She followed it playing Abigail in a TV adaptation of The Crucible (1967), opposite George C. Scott and Colleen Dewhurst. After guest starring on Cimarron Strip (1967), Weld had the starring role in Pretty Poison (1968), co-starring Anthony Perkins. The film became a cult success, but she disliked the film and did not get on with director Noel Black.

Around this time, Weld became famous for turning down roles in films that succeeded at the box office, such as Bonnie and Clyde, Rosemary's Baby, True Grit, Cactus Flower, and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.[20] In a 1971 interview with the New York Times, Weld explained that she had chosen to reject these roles precisely because she believed they would be commercial successes: "Do you think I want a success? I refused 'Bonnie and Clyde' because I was nursing at the time, but also because deep down I knew it was going to be a huge success. The same was true of 'Bob and Carol and Fred and Sue' or whatever it was called. It reeked of success".[20]

The films Weld did make included I Walk the Line (1970), opposite Gregory Peck; A Safe Place (1971), co-starring Jack Nicholson and Orson Welles and directed by Henry Jaglom, and Play It as It Lays (1972), again with Perkins, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award

Weld began to work again in television, starring in Reflections of Murder (1974) and F. Scott Fitzgerald in Hollywood (1975) in which she played Zelda Fitzgerald.

Weld attracted attention as the favored, out-of-control Katherine in Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977) – packing into her short screen time an orgy, a divorce, a lot of alcohol, and two abortions – and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress;[20] later she appeared in Who'll Stop the Rain (1978) opposite Nick Nolte; and the ensemble satire Serial (1980).

She said she preferred television. "What I dig about TV is the pace", she said. "Two weeks for even a heavy part – great. Too much thinking about a role is a disaster for me. I mean, let's do it, let's get it done."[25]

She played the lead in the TV films A Question of Guilt (1978), in which she plays a woman accused of murdering her children, Mother and Daughter: The Loving War (1980), a remake of Madame X (1981), and a new version of The Rainmaker (1982).


In feature films, Weld had a good supporting role in Michael Mann's acclaimed 1981 film Thief, opposite James Caan. She played Al Pacino's wife in Author! Author! (1982) and co-starred with Donald Sutherland in the TV film The Winter of Our Discontent (1983). This performance earned her an Emmy nomination.

In 1984, she appeared in Sergio Leone's gangster epic Once Upon a Time in America, playing a jeweler's secretary, who is in on a plan to steal a shipment of diamonds. During the robbery, her character goads Robert De Niro's character, David "Noodles" Aaronson, into "raping" her with her complicity. She later meets up with the gang from the robbery, and becomes the moll of James Woods' character Max Bercovicz. Disturbed by what she sees as Max's delusional, even suicidal, ambitions, she convinces Noodles to betray Max to the police. The performance earned Weld a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress of 1984.

On TV, Weld was in Scorned and Swindled (1984), Circle of Violence (1986) and Something in Common (1986). She had a supporting role in Heartbreak Hotel (1988).

Weld was reunited with Anthony Perkins in an episode of Mistress of Suspense (1990).

In 1993, she played a police officer's neurotic wife in Falling Down, starring Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall. She had small supporting roles in Feeling Minnesota (1996), Investigating Sex (2001), and Chelsea Walls (2001).

1956 Rock, Rock, Rock Dori Graham
1958 Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! Comfort Goodpasture
1959 The Five Pennies Dorothy Nichols, age 12 to 14
1960 Because They're Young Anne Gregor
Sex Kittens Go to College Jody
High Time Joy Elder
The Private Lives of Adam and Eve Vangie Harper
1961 Return to Peyton Place Selena Cross
Wild in the Country Noreen Braxton
1962 Bachelor Flat Libby Bushmill/Libby Smith
1963 Soldier in the Rain Bobby Jo Pepperdine
1965 I'll Take Sweden JoJo Holcomb
The Cincinnati Kid Christian Rudd
1966 Lord Love a Duck Barbara Ann Greene
1968 Pretty Poison Sue Ann Stepanek
1970 I Walk the Line Alma McCain
1971 A Safe Place Susan/Noah
1972 Play It as It Lays Maria Wyeth Lang Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1974 Reflections of Murder Vicky
1977 Looking for Mr. Goodbar Katherine Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
1978 Who'll Stop the Rain Marge Converse
1980 Serial Kate Linville Holroyd
1981 Thief Jessie
1982 Author! Author! Gloria Travalian
1984 Once Upon a Time in America Carol Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1988 Heartbreak Hotel Marie Wolfe
1993 Falling Down Amanda Prendergast
1996 Feeling Minnesota Nora Clayton
2001 Investigating Sex Sasha Faldo
Chelsea Walls Greta

Television
Year Film Role Notes
1959 The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet Connie/Cathy 3 episodes
The Red Skelton Hour Starlet Episode: "Appleby: The Big Producer"
77 Sunset Strip Barrie Connell Episode: "Secret Island"
1959-62 The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis Thalia Menninger Series regular (season 1)
Guest star (seasons 3-4)
1960 77 Sunset Strip Kitten Lang Episode: "Condor's Lair"
The Millionaire Beth Boland Episode: "Millionaire Katherine Boland"
The Tab Hunter Show Ginny Episode: "The Doll in the Bathtub"
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre Beth Lawson Episode: "The Mormons"
1961 Follow the Sun Barbara Beaumont Episode: "The Highest Wall"
Bus Stop Cherie Episode: "Cherie"
1962 Adventures in Paradise Gloria Dannora Episode: "The Velvet Trap"
Naked City Ora Mae Youngham Episode: "A Case Study of Two Savages"
Route 66 Miriam Moore Episode: "Love Is a Skinny Kid"
Ben Casey Melanie Gardner Episode: "When You See an Evil Man"
1964 Mr. Broadway Emily Episode: "An Eye on Emily"
The Fugitive Mattie Braydon Episode: "Dark Corner"
1967 The Crucible Abigail Williams Television film
1968 Cimarron Strip Heller Episode: "Heller"
1975 F. Scott Fitzgerald in Hollywood Zelda Fitzgerald Television film
1978 A Question of Guilt Doris Winters Television film
1980 Mother and Daughter: The Loving War Lillie Lloyd McCann Television film
1981 Madame X Holly Richardson Television film
1982 The Rainmaker Lizzie Television film
CableACE Award for Actress in a Theatrical or Non-Musical Program
1983 The Winter of our Discontent Margie Young-Hunt Television film
Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Miniseries or a Movie
1984 Scorned and Swindled Sharon Clark Television film
1986 Circle of Violence Georgia Benfield Television film
Something in Common Shelly Grant Television film
1990 Chillers Jessica Episode: "Something You Have to Live With"