Swoosie Kurtz
Kurtz at the Farm Sanctuary Gala, January 22, 2007
Born	September 6 1944 (1944--) (age 63) Omaha, Nebraska
Parents	Margo and Frank Kurtz

Swoosie Kurtz (born September 6, 1944) is an American actress.

Biography

Early life

Kurtz was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the only child of Air Force Colonel Frank Kurtz, Jr., a much-decorated WWII American bomber pilot,^[1] and author Margo (Rogers)Kurtz.^[2] She got her unique first name "Swoosie" (which rhymes with Lucy, rather than woozy) from her father. It is derived from the sole surviving example, at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, of the B-17D Flying Fortress airplane, named "The Swoose" or simply "Swoose" - half swan, half goose - which her father piloted during World War II. Kurtz's first television appearance was on To Tell the Truth at age eighteen, introducing her father and two impostors. As a military brat, Kurtz moved frequently. Kurtz attended the University of Southern California, where she majored in drama. She then attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Career

Kurtz first gained attention in the late 70s in Uncommon Women and Others, the breakthrough play by Wendy Wasserstein. Kurtz was soon was awarded Broadway's "triple crown" (the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle awards) for her portrayal of Gwen in Lanford Wilson's The Fifth of July. She won a second Tony for her performance as Bananas in a 1986 revival of The House of Blue Leaves by John Guare.

In 1978, she was part of the ensemble cast of Mary Tyler Moore's short lived variety series Mary, that also included David Letterman and Michael Keaton. Later, Kurtz had starring roles in the television series Love, Sidney and Sisters. She has also received an Emmy for her guest-starring performance on Carol Burnett's comedy series Carol & Company, playing a woman who attends her 20th high-school reunion and discovers her former sweetheart — a football player — has been through a sex change operation. Recently, Kurtz has had a recurring guest role as Judy Miller's mother on the CBS sitcom Still Standing, John Locke's mother, Emily Annabeth Locke, on Lost, and as Beth Huffstodt's mother on Huff. She is slated to star on the new ABC teleision series, Pushing Daisies, beginning in October 2007.

Kurtz frequently received stellar reviews even in less praised projects, and she is widely respected as one of Hollywood's most sought-after supporting actresses, doing a lot of work she would rather not so as to pay the bills and be able to really act in the theatre.

She has never married or had children. Kurtz was mentioned in the press with Brent Spiner in the 80s.

Filmography

• (2007)
• Pushing Daisies (6 episodes, 2007)
• ''American Dad! (1 episode, 2006)
• Huff'' (8 episodes, 2004-2006)
• ''Category 7: The End of the World (2005)
• Still Standing (2 episodes, 2005)
• Nadine in Date Land (2005)
• Lost (1 episode, 2005)
• True (2005)
• Duplex (2003)
• The Rules of Attraction (2002)
• Street Time (1 episode, 2002)
• That's Life (4 episodes, 2000-2001)
• The Wilde Girls (2001)
• Bubble Boy (2001)
• The Fighting Fitzgeralds (1 episode, 2001)
• Get Over It (2001)
• ''The Outer Limits (1 episode, 2000)
• Sleep Easy, Hutch Rimes (2000)
• The White River Kid (1999)
• Love & Money (1999)
• Cruel Intentions (1999)
• Outside Ozona (1998)
• More Tales of the City (1998)
• ER'' (1 episode, 1998)
• Harvey (1998)
• My Own Country (1998)
• ''Touched by an Angel (1 episode, 1997)
• Suddenly Susan (3 episodes, 1996-1997)
• Liar Liar (1997)
• Little Girls in Pretty Boxes (1997)
• Party Girl (3 episodes, 1996)
• Sisters (1991) (106 episodes, 1991-1996)
• A Promise to Carolyn (1996)
• Citizen Ruth (1996)
• The Magic Schoolbus (1 episode, 1995)
• Betrayed: A Story of Three Women (1995)
• Storybook (1995)
• One Christmas aka Truman Capote's One Christmas (1994)
• Reality Bites (1994)
• ''And the Band Played On (1993)
• The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom (1993)
• Terror on Track 9 (1991)
• Walking the Dog (1991)
• A Shock to the System (1990)
• Stanley and Iris (1990)
• The Image (1990)
• Carol & Company (1 episode, 1990)
• Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
• Bright Lights, Big City (1988)
• Vice Versa (1988)
• Baja Oklahoma (1988)
• Trying Times (1 episode, 1987)
• The House of Blue Leaves (1987)
• True Stories (1986)
• Wildcats (1986)
• A Time to Live (1985)
• Guilty Conscience (1985)
• Against All Odds (1984)
• A Caribbean Mystery (1983)
• Love, Sidney (1 episode, 1983)
• The World According to Garp (1982)
• Fifth of July (1982)
• The Mating Season (1980)
• Marriage Is Alive and Well (1980)
• Uncommon Women and Others (1979)
• Walking Through the Fire (1979)
• Oliver's Story (1978)
• Mary (Unknown episodes, 1978)
• First Love (1977)
• Slap Shot (1977)
• Kojak (1 episode, 1976)
• Ah, Wilderness! (1976)
• As the World Turns (Unknown episodes, 1971)

References

External links

• Swoosie Kurtz at the Internet Movie Database
• Swoosie Kurtz at the Internet Broadway Database
• Swoosie Kurtz - Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org, October 2006
• Leading Ladies Working in the Theatre video from American Theatre Wing, December 2006
• Performance Working in the Theatre video from American Theatre Wing, September 2003
• Performance Working in the Theatre video from American Theatre Wing, April 1999
• Performance Working in the Theatre video from American Theatre Wing, September 1986
• TonyAwards.com Interview with Swoosie Kurtz