Swoosie Kurtz

As a young gayling she always reminded me of Barbara Walters.

Do you think she's had any work done?

If so, she needed more.

Swoozie was in a lot of good movies, but almost always as a supporting character. She was just never a big star, as far as DL ignoring her. She's someone you forget exists and is still alive.

I loved her first on Sisters, and was then surprised by how great she was as a very, very different character on Mike & Molly.

I loved her on Mike and Molly and Dangerous Liaisons.

New York Magazine used to have a contest feature where you had to submit entries for categories they'd create, and in the early eighties one of those categories was "PBS TV specials we'd like to see." The winning entry was "WHY WE HAVE SILLY NAMES: Koo Stark and Meryl Streep pose questions to Swoosie Kurtz."

[quote] Even though she has probably the strangest name ever for an actor

She was named for her daddy's bomber. I thought everybody knew that.

This aircraft is the oldest surviving B-17 Flying Fortress and the only D model in existence. Originally named Ole Betsy, this B-17D participated in several bombing missions in the desperate weeks after Pearl Harbor. Later named The Swoose, it also served as a transport for the commander of Allied air forces in the Southwest Pacific, Lt. Gen. George Brett.

The Army Air Corps accepted this aircraft and assigned it to the 19th Bombardment Group at March Field, Calif., in April 1941. In May it participated in the first mass aircraft flight from the mainland U.S. to Hawaii. In September, the aircraft flew from Hawaii to the Philippines in the longest mass flight to date.

Within hours of the Pearl Harbor attack on Dec. 7, 1941, Ole Betsy flew on the first U.S. combat mission in the Philippines. During the following three weeks, it struck at the Japanese forces invading the Philippines. After transferring to Java, it continued to fly combat missions.

On Jan. 11, 1942, three Japanese fighters caused heavy damage to Ole Betsy -- but lost two of their own in the process -- during a running 35-minute engagement off the coast of Borneo. Maintenance personnel in Australia replaced the damaged tail with one from another B-17D, replaced the engines, and converted the aircraft into an armed transport. The new pilot, Capt. Weldon Smith, gave it a new nickname after a then-popular song about a half-swan, half-goose called the "Swoose."

In the spring of 1942, Capt. Frank Kurtz, the personal pilot for Lt. Gen. George Brett, took over The Swoose. (His daughter, famed actress Swoosie Kurtz, was named after the aircraft.) The Swoose traveled to forward air bases in the combat zone, and sometimes the crew had to man the guns against enemy fighter attack. The aircraft also set two point-to-point speed records and carried several famous passengers, including Lt. Commander Lyndon B. Johnson (future president of the United States).

Gen. Brett came back to the United States in the summer of 1942 and brought The Swoose with him. The aircraft was stripped of weaponry and unnecessary equipment, overhauled and used as his personal high-speed transport until he retired in late 1945. Remarkably, The Swoose had perhaps the unique distinction of being in operational service from Pearl Harbor to the end of the war.

The Smithsonian Institution accepted possession of The Swoose in the late 1940s and it remained in storage until the National Museum of the United States Air Force acquired it in 2008. After a complete restoration, The Swoose will be placed on display at the museum.

What is wrong with her face in Op’s Photo...yikes!

I like her very much. Her memoir is very touching.

Adored her in Pushing Daisies.

A fine Swoosie performance.....

as Miss Rollings , this line from True Stories in 1986 has stuck with me ever since "It's like how hot dogs come in packs of 10, and buns come in packs of eight or 12 - you have to buy nine packs to make it come out even. "

R8 - thanks for that slice of cultural ephemera!

In the top photo, she looks like a Talosian from Star Trek.

She's a semi-regular on that new-ish Matt LeBlanc sitcom (she plays his mother) and she's scarily thin.

Swooz's plastic surgery is horrifying (@ OP's photo).

This why she can't get no DL love.

She's in Bubble Boy

Did she ever shave Jake’s hairy hole?

r20: no, but he shaved hers.

Saw her in The House of Blue Leaves with John Mahoney, they were both a revelation!

She's the ginger Stockard Channing.

She was sublime in LOVE SYDNEY

She played Janice Vickery in the original Gamma Rays, eventually moving up into the roles of both Ruth and Tillie.

Don't forget Scandal.....

Audie Murphy was the most decorated WWII hero. Just ask James Cagney. Her father was the most decorated Korean War hero. The battlefield is how you get ahead in Hollywood, except for the casting couch.

I saw her years and years ago (1981 or '82) with Richard Thomas and Jeff Daniels in Lanford Wilson's "Fifth of July." She played Gwen, a budding country singer and her appearance with her "Will you look at that fucking sunshine" line brought down the house. I don't remember much else except that Richard Thomas was pretty hot looking then.

She was great as a hockey player's wife in SLAPSHOT....

"Yea.....Johnny says you can only drink so much and screw so much......"

Doesn't get "enough love" because 25% of DLers must wack off daily over anything Kennedy/Bouvier, another 25% need to wack off posting about their instaho obsessions. Then we have the anti-trans skree skree trolls, and several poster who are now permanently lodged deep up Mayor Pete's ass, licking, licking. Finally, a good percentage who need to discuss ancient academy awards.

You mean her Tony-winning role, r28?

I've never heard people admit they watched "Mike and Molly" before. Fascinating.

"cultural ephemera"

I like that term.

Great character actress; mostly in smaller roles like Against all Odds, Liar, Liar, Citizen Ruth, and Cruel Intentions.

Mike & Molly was funny proletariat shit for a few seasons. Nothing shameful.

Closeted?

Thank God....

I liked it in Fifth of July when Richard Thomas fell over and someone said:

"I told you he had a wooden leg."

And Swoosie's character said:

"Oh I just thought you meant he liked to drink a lot."

She had a solid theater career, with two Tony awards and multiple nominations, before moving into film and TV

Wasn't there a famous NYC production of "Curse of the Starving Class" where she put together an entire fence on stage using her enormous forehead in place of a hammer? maybe I'm thinking of someone else.

Here she is presenting the featured actress in a musical Tony to her future co-star in Pushing Daisies.

I saw Swoozie in an elevator once. She little. Plus, she was wearing full leather in the summer.

one hell of a brow lift, omg

I loved her as the opposing lawyer in Liar, Liar.

She could use that bright shiny forehead to mine coal.

She has no lips. It ages one and unless you’re the director you end up with the bithy roles

Ohhh I loved her on SISTERS.

Speaking of SISTERS what ever happened to Julianne Phillips? Did she just quit acting and is living off her Bruce Springsteen divorce money?

OP Have loved her forever. And ever, well since 'Love Sidney'. She is just the best. And thanks for the story of her name, poster. Very cool

And had zero idea 'House of Blue Leaves' was filmed, let alone on Youtube, but a wonderful surprise, thanks poster of that

Loved her as the whore in 'The World According To Garp', such a completely perfect cast

[quote]Speaking of SISTERS what ever happened to Julianne Phillips? Did she just quit acting and is living off her Bruce Springsteen divorce money?

She quit acting and later got into a relationship with TV producer Marc Gurvitz. They have a son together. I'm guessing that guy supports her. I wonder if Julianne laughed when rumors of Springsteen cheating on Patti came out. IIRC, a guy in New Jersey wrote in divorce filings that his wife had an affair with Springsteen and also another rumor was that Springsteen banged a 9/11 widow.

thanks R50. She was my favorite Sister. I loved that show!

[quote] What is wrong with her face in Op’s Photo...yikes!

[quote] After a complete restoration, The Swoose will be placed on display at the museum.

I think Swoosie also tried a "complete restoration" a few years back....it didn't go so well.

I've always loved Swoosie, and it's certainly not my place to judge a 76 year-old character actress for getting plastic surgery. But the refresh she got for 'Call Me Kat' made me gasp. As long as she's happy, that's all that matters. I just hope she doesn't end up dying from another refresh like Joan Rivers.

I didn't refer to her as Swollen Cuntz for nothing

God, saw that horrible picture and was afraid she was the latest dead, not dead actress.

A comparison with Stockard Channing is apt. They're contemporaries, and both have extensive theatre backgrounds. I'm sure they've both been considered for the same roles a number of times.

Why has Channing had a bigger profile career in film and TV (and arguably, on Broadway)? Kurtz has never had a role comparable to 6 DEGREES OF SEPARATION or even Rizzo in GREASE. I think Kurtz is very funny and a strong dramatic actress, though we've rarely gotten to see that.

PS: I love Stockard, too. I'm just wondering.

We’re they competing muses for John Guare, or fought for favoritism from him?

I remember Swoozie from that dreadful Mary Tyler Moore variety show.

Koosie Skwurtz

[quote]R8 She was named for her daddy's bomber.

Flattering.

LOVE SWOOSIE! Got to work with her in the late 1990s and she was sweet, smart and thoroughly professional. Is she still working? Haven't heard anything about her for years.

Well, she has a name that Liza can actually pronounce correctly.

We were watching the new sitcom "Kat" and when she appeared on the screen the dogs ran from the room in terror! She must have gone to MTMs plastic surgeon.

My husband calls that show FAT.

Best known as Ellie on As The World Turns. She had to fight Meredith and Carol for Tom Hughes's affections.

I can't believe how thin she is. She was never this skinny. Is she ill? Does she have an eating disorder?

On the series she did with Tony Randall, she looked to be of normal weight.

[quote]this flamehaired siren of stage and screen never gets enough love on Datalounge. Why?

If you knew Swoosie like I know Swoosie ...

OP- Swoosie Kurtz is NOT as strange a name for an actress as NANA VISITOR from Deep Space Nine.

let's make a list of what all we think has been done: brow lift, cheek implants, nose job, breast implants, neck lift, and...?

She has the look, the appearance and the mannerisms of abrasive, entitled, upper middle class, white frau cunts from the suburbs. Could never stand this bitch.

She's also game for ridiculously delightful material like this. And fellow DL fave Faye Dunaway is just as fun. In fact, everyone in this scene is fucking hilarious.

She's also game for ridiculously delightful material like this. And fellow DL fave Faye Dunaway is just as fun. In fact, everyone in this scene is fucking hilarious.

I loved her in Liar Liar as the opposing lawyer.

She's sort of an older version of Judith Ivey who also has a lengthy career on stage, screen and TV. In some of those quirky comedies of the late 80's I use to confuse the two.

Judith Ivey doesn't have a bolted on pair of bodacious ta tas R74

I love her

Her uncle went nuts in Viet Nam. They made a movie about it.

It's only a small supporting role, and it isn't the showiest, either. But I loved her getting drunk and high with Miss Dunaway in "The Rules Of Attraction". I especially love the way she flips her hair in response to Dick's "Well, FUCK YOUUU!!!"

Side Note: If I had been the costume designer, I would've put Sommerholder in a nice pair of expensive briefs. He was a fucking model, for Chrissakes!

Her scene with Faye Dunaway is the best thing about Rules of Attraction.

Sosie Bacon would like a word, OP.

I just showed HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES to a friend who hadn't seen it, and it confirms Swoosie Kurtz's brilliance in every way. Wonderful that this exciting staging of a great play was preserved (even without a couple of its original cast members).

My only live encounter with Miss Kurtz was an oddity -- one of Charles Busch's benefit readings of AUNTIE MAME. As delightful as many people were that evening (not just Busch himself -- Marian Seldes and Lucie Arnaz were also outstanding), the greatest of all was Swoosie Kurtz as Agnes Gooch. God bless her, she'd worked out a thoroughly realized characterization, complete with quirky physicality and voice, and she was side-splittingly funny.

Swoosie Kurtz got top billing on "Sisters"

Sisters

Starring

Swoozie Kurtz