Swoosie Kurtz is an award-winning American actress that has been in the industry since around 1962. She’s been a part of film and TV for quite a while though you might not fully recognize her thanks to the fact that she’s had a lot more supporting roles than lead ones. That seems to be okay however since she plays her part beautifully and doesn’t ever seem to disappoint. At times she can play a rather calm and innocuous part but at other times she is a bit louder, brash, and almost arrogant in her manner. That’s the range of acting she possesses, that she can make you hate her character or love her.
That’s a great actor, and usually one that doesn’t get enough credit for bolstering the leads.
5. Bright Lights, Big City-Megan
She was more of a bystander in this film about a young man that loses just about everything and then eventually finds his way back to square one. She’d already been in the industry for quite a while when this movie came out but as I said she was more of a supporting actor than anything. By that time if an actor hasn’t taken the lead it seems like they never will.
4. Slap Shot-Shirley
Starring with some of the biggest names in film makes it a bit difficult to stand out unless an actor has that kind of role where their full personality is allowed to be on display. In this hilarious comedy centering around hockey and a team that has nothing to lose and everything to gain the main focus of course is Paul Newman, so Kurtz kind of gets lost in the shuffle.
3. Reality Bites-Charlane McGregor
By this time she was a well-established name in Hollywood but was still being cast in a supporting role largely because a new crop of stars was on the rise and someone of her age and experience didn’t warrant enough attention to really give her anything noteworthy. The fact that she was still in films at this point says a lot about her dedication and devotion to the craft.
2. Cruel Intentions-Dr. Greenbaum
Her part in this film is notably short but is also more memorable since she got to showcase more of her personality and really cut loose. Plus she manages to stick it to Sebastian at one point in the movie since he did her wrong in the beginning portion by mistreating her daughter and making a fool out of her. Of course her character wasn’t the pillar of the community either.
1. Liar Liar-Dana Appleton
I just had to add this blooper in for this film since it’s one of the funniest and shows a lighter side of Kurtz than the others. The film itself was hilarious despite that her part is the hard-nosed lawyer that’s trying to nail Fletcher Reed to the wall. It’s still a very fun and engaging film in which she got to play a larger part thankfully.
She’s a great actor, but she deserves more recognition.
Follow Us
