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Wendie Jo Sperber (September 15, 1958 – November 29, 2005) was an American actress, known for her performances in the films I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978), Bachelor Party (1984), and Back to the Future (1985), as well as the television sitcoms Bosom Buddies (1980–1982) and Private Benjamin (1982–1983).
Wendie Jo Sperber | |
|---|---|
 Sperber in 1981 | |
| Born | September 15, 1958 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | November 29, 2005 (aged 47) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1978–2005 |
| Spouse |
Richard Velasquez
(m. 1983; div. 1994) |
| Children | 2 |
Early life
editSperber was born in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, to Burton Seymour Sperber and Charlene Marie (née Hirshon), and had three siblings (Ellice, Michelle and Richard).[1] Her family is Jewish.
Career
editSperber began her screen career at age 19 when she was cast in the small role of Kuchinsky in Matthew Robbins' 1978 teen movie Corvette Summer, alongside Mark Hamill and Annie Potts. She next appeared in Robert Zemeckis' period comedy I Wanna Hold Your Hand, as Rosie Petrofsky. (Entertainment Weekly described Rosie as "a screaming Beatlemaniac who, among other things, climbed through elevator shafts").[2]
She played the title role in the television movie Dinky Hocker, an ABC Afterschool Special which dealt with a teenager's attempts to hide her feelings by eating. Sperber's physical comedy is featured in Steven Spielberg's 1941. Zemeckis, who also worked on 1941, brought her back to the big screen in 1980 with a role in his comedy Used Cars, but it was on television that year that Sperber began to receive more serious attention.
She was cast in the role of Amy Cassidy — a character who was funny, romantic, and exuberant — in the series Bosom Buddies, starring Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari. Following the show's cancellation in 1982, Sperber worked for a year on the series Private Benjamin. She then resumed her feature work in the 1984 Tom Hanks theatrical vehicle Bachelor Party, directed by Neal Israel. Israel cast her again in Moving Violations in 1985. That same year, she appeared as Linda McFly in Zemeckis' highly successful Back to the Future. She reprised her role as Linda in Back to the Future Part III.
Following Back to the Future, Sperber returned to television and starred in Babes, a comedy about three overweight sisters; but the series was cancelled after one season. In 1994, Sperber was cast in a major supporting part in the CBS television series Hearts Afire. In 1998, she guest starred as April, the cleaning lady and Grace's muse, on the twelfth episode of Will & Grace. Her last work was voicing a character on the animated TV series American Dad (episode titled "Roger 'n' Me") that aired in 2006, after her death.
Advocacy
editIn addition to her work on TV and movies, Sperber also was the founder of weSPARK Cancer Support Center, an independent organization formed in 2001 to advance and help support individuals and their families fighting various forms of cancer through free emotional support, information and social events/activities. In addition to being the founder, Sperber also served on the board of directors and wrote the quarterly newsletter. According to one of the last known interviews with Sperber by Terra Wellington,[3] the weSPARK organization was her key cause and effort in the last year of her life with her stating "The whole idea of weSPARK's programming was that I didn't want people to walk into a room and have a therapist ask how they feel. I wanted peer support."[4]
Personal life and death
editIn 1997, Sperber was diagnosed with breast cancer, which seemed to go into remission following treatment. She revealed in April 2002 that the cancer had metastasized throughout her body, and by mid-2004 she had undergone experimental brain radiation therapy.[4] She continued to work in television and movies during this period, including episodes of Unhappily Ever After, Home Improvement, Will & Grace, Grounded for Life, and the movies Desperate but Not Serious (1999) and Sorority Boys (2002).
She died on November 29, 2005, aged 47, in Los Angeles.[5]
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | I Wanna Hold Your Hand | Rosie Petrofsky | |
| Corvette Summer | Kuchinsky | ||
| Grease | Dancer | Uncredited | |
| 1979 | 1941 | Maxine Dexheimer | |
| Dinky Hocker | Susan 'Dinky' Hocker | TV movie | |
| 1980 | Used Cars | Nervous Nona | |
| 1983 | The First Time | Eileen | |
| 1984 | Bachelor Party | Dr. Tina Gassko | |
| 1985 | Moving Violations | Joan Pudillo | |
| Back to the Future | Linda McFly | ||
| 1986 | Stewardess School | Jolean Winters | |
| 1987 | Delta Fever | Claire | |
| 1990 | The Image | Anita Cox | TV movie |
| Back to the Future Part III | Linda McFly | ||
| 1994 | Mr. Write | Roz | |
| Love Affair | Helen | ||
| 1995 | Mr. Payback: An Interactive Movie | Woman With Kitten | |
| The Return of Hunter | Lucille | TV movie | |
| 1996 | Big Packages | ||
| 1999 | Desperate But Not Serious | Landlady | |
| 2000 | Pissed | Wendy | |
| 2002 | Sorority Boys | Professor Bendler | |
| 2003 | My Dinner with Jimi | Louella | |
| 2010 | Take 22: Behind the Scenes of Sequestered | Cece | (final film role) |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | The Stockard Channing Show | Wendy Simon | Episode – "Life Begins at 30" |
| 1980–1982 | Bosom Buddies | Amy Cassidy | |
| 1981 | Knots Landing | Ellie | Episode – "Step One" |
| 1982–1983 | Private Benjamin | Pvt. Stacy Kouchalakas | |
| 1985 | Brothers | Connie | Episode – "Life's Too Short to Be Delicate" |
| 1987–1988 | Women in Prison | Pam | |
| 1989 | Designing Women | Estelle Rhinehart | Episode – "The Women of Atlanta" |
| 1990 | Who's the Boss? | Lori | Episode – "Micelli's Marauders" |
| 1990–1991 | Babes | Charlene Gilbert | |
| 1991 | Harry and the Hendersons | Leslie Worth | Episode – "George's White Light" |
| Married... with Children | Sandy Jorgenson | Episode – "I Who Have Nothing" | |
| 1992 | Parker Lewis Can't Lose | Carol | 2 Episodes |
| Dinosaurs | Wendy Richfield | Episode – "Hungry for Love" | |
| 1992–1993 | Hearts Afire | Mavis Davis | |
| 1994 | Fortune Hunter | Nadine | Episode – "Triple Cross" |
| 1995 | Kirk | Saleswoman | Episode – "S'Wonderbra" |
| 1997 | You Wish | Margo | Episode – "A Real Don Juan" |
| 1998 | Murphy Brown | Ann | Episode – "Bad Hair Day" |
| 1999 | Will and Grace | April | Episode – "My Fair Maid-y" |
| Unhappily Ever After | Ms. Snaylops | Episode – "The Artist and the Con Artist" | |
| Maggie | Dr. Scott | Episode – "Don't Quit Your Day Job" | |
| Home Improvement | Sue | Episode – "The Long and Winding Road (Part 1)" | |
| 2000 | Bette | Penny | Episode – "A Method to Her Madness" |
| 2002 | 8 Simple Rules | Rachel | 4 Episodes |
| 2003 | JAG | Landlady | Episode – "Standards of Conduct" |
| Touched by an Angel | Tricia | Episode – "And a Nightingale Sang" | |
| 2005 | Grounded for Life | Mrs. Robinson | Episode – "The Letter(s)" |
| 2006 | American Dad! | Old Lady/Wendie Jo (Voice) | Episode – "Roger & Me" |
References
edit- ^ "Burton S. Sperber Obituary (2011) Los Angeles Times". Legacy.com. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
- ^ "One Fun Babe". Entertainment Weekly. October 12, 1990. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ "Terra Wellington Biography". movie-stars.us. Retrieved February 17, 2016.
- ^ a b Wellington, Terra (September–October 2004). "Bosom Buddy Transforms Pain into Hope". REAL Magazine: 29–31.
- ^ "Wendie Jo Sperber, Actress, Dies". The New York Times. Associated Press. December 2, 2005. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
External links
edit- Wendie Jo Sperber at IMDb
- "One Fun Babe", a 1990 Entertainment Weekly profile of Sperber that discusses her role on the sitcom Babes.
- The Show Must Go On documentary about Wendie Jo Sperber
- Wendie Jo Sperber at Find a Grave