# Veronica Cartwright

Veronica Cartwright (born April 20, 1949) is a British-born American actress. She is known for appearing in science fiction and horror films, and has earned numerous accolades, including three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Her younger sister is actress Angela Cartwright.
As a child actress, Cartwright appeared in supporting roles in The Children's Hour and The Birds, the latter of which was her first commercial success. She made her transition into mainstream, mature roles with 1978's Invasion of the Body Snatchers. She played Lambert in the science-fiction horror film Alien, which earned her recognition and a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress, and additionally appeared in the films The Right Stuff and The Witches of Eastwick which earned her praise. In the 1990s, she received three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, one of which was for her role on ER and two of which were for her role in The X-Files.

## Early life

Veronica Cartwright was born on April 20, 1949 in Bristol, England, and grew up in Los Angeles, having immigrated to the US shortly after the birth of her younger sister, actress Angela Cartwright.

## Career

In 1958, her career as a child actress began with a role in In Love and War. Among her early appearances were repeated roles in the television series Leave It to Beaver (as Beaver's classmates Violet Rutherford and, later, Peggy MacIntosh) and episodes of One Step Beyond ("The Haunting") and The Twilight Zone ("I Sing the Body Electric"). In 1963, she guest starred twice in NBC's medical drama about psychiatry, The Eleventh Hour, in the episodes "The Silence of Good Men" and "My Name is Judith, I'm Lost, You See".
Cartwright appeared in the films The Children's Hour (1961) and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963), which were both highly successful. In The Birds, she was cast along with her television father from Leave It to Beaver, Richard Deacon, although the two were not on screen together. She appeared in Spencer's Mountain (1963) with Henry Fonda and Kym Karath. She played daughter Jemima Boone in the first two seasons of NBC's Daniel Boone from 1964 until 1966, with co-stars Fess Parker, Patricia Blair, Darby Hinton, Ed Ames and Dallas McKennon. She won a regional Emmy Award for the television movie Tell Me Not in Mournful Numbers (1964). She achieved adult success with film roles in Inserts (1974), Goin' South (1978) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978).
Cartwright's breakout feature was the science-fiction horror film Alien (1979), for which she was originally cast as Alien's heroine Ellen Ripley, but director Ridley Scott instead set her to play Lambert prior to shooting. The infamous chestburster scene in the film featured a genuine reaction from Cartwright, who had not been informed beforehand that blood would be involved; co-star Tom Skerritt confirmed this by saying, "What you saw on camera was the real response. She had no idea what the hell happened. All of a sudden this thing just came up." She won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.
Her subsequent film roles include The Right Stuff (1983), Flight of the Navigator (1986), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Money Talks (1997), Scary Movie 2 (2001), Kinsey (2004) and Straight-Jacket (2004). She was nominated again for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Witches of Eastwick.
A frequent performer in television, she has played guest roles in such series as Route 66, Leave It to Beaver, The Mod Squad, Miami Vice, Baywatch, L.A. Law, ER, The X-Files, Chicago Hope, Will & Grace, Touched by an Angel, Judging Amy, Six Feet Under, The Closer, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Cartwright has received three Emmy Award nominations, one for her work in ER in 1997, and two for her work on The X-Files in 1998 and 1999. Cartwright also starred as Mrs. Olive Osmond in the made-for-TV film Inside the Osmonds.
She co-starred in the fourth version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Invasion (2007). She appears on the cover art for the Scissor Sisters' 2006 single "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'" and on their second album Ta-Dah. In 2014, Cartwright reprised her role as Joan Lambert for DLC episodes in Alien: Isolation based on the original film, and appeared in the remake of The Town That Dreaded Sundown. She played the role of Sibley Gamble, a psychic on General Hospital, between July 8, 2019, and July 16, 2019.
Cartwright's many theatre credits include Electra, Talley's Folly, The Bat and The Master Builder, for which she received brilliant reviews. Her performances in The Hands of its Enemy, The Triplet Collection and Homesteaders brought her Drama-Logue Awards for Best Actress.

## Personal life

Cartwright married Richard Gates first, then Stanley Goldstein; both ended in divorce. Her third marriage to television director Richard Compton lasted until Compton's death in 2007.
A Catholic, Cartwright and her sister Angela have attended Mass at St. Charles Borromeo.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1958 | In Love and War | Allie O'Neill | Uncredited |
| 1961 | The Children's Hour | Rosalie Wells | |
| 1963 | The Birds | Cathy Brenner | |
| 1963 | Spencer's Mountain | Becky Spencer | Uncredited |
| 1964 | One Man's Way | Mary | |
| 1975 | Inserts | Harlene | |
| 1978 | Goin' South | Hermine | |
| 1978 | Invasion of the Body Snatchers | Nancy Bellicec | |
| 1978 | The Kid from Not-So-Big | Corinne | |
| 1979 | Alien | Joan Lambert | |
| 1983 | Nightmares | Claire Houston | Segment: "Night of the Rat" |
| 1983 | The Right Stuff | Betty Grissom | |
| 1984 | Terror in the Aisles | Nancy Bellicec | Archive footage from Invasion of the Body Snatchers |
| 1985 | My Man Adam | Elaine Swit | |
| 1986 | Flight of the Navigator | Helen Freeman | |
| 1987 | Wisdom | Samantha Wisdom | |
| 1987 | The Witches of Eastwick | Felicia Alden | |
| 1989 | Valentino Returns | Patricia "Pat" Gibbs | |
| 1990 | False Identity | Vera Errickson | |
| 1991 | Walking the Dog | Unknown | Short film |
| 1992 | Man Trouble | Helen Dextra | |
| 1994 | Mirror, Mirror 2: Raven Dance | Sister Aja | |
| 1994 | Speed | Bag Lady | Uncredited |
| 1994 | On Hope | Woman In Grocery | Short film |
| 1994 | Two Over Easy | Molly | Short film |
| 1995 | Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh | Octavia Tarrant | |
| 1996 | Shoot the Moon | Mrs. Thomas | |
| 1997 | Money Talks | Connie Cipriani | |
| 1997 | Sparkler | Dottie Delgato | |
| 1998 | My Engagement Party | Sarah Salsburg | |
| 1999 | A Slipping-Down Life | Mrs. Casey | |
| 1999 | Trash | Principal Evans | |
| 2001 | In the Bedroom | Minister On Television | |
| 2001 | Critic's Choice | Watkins | Short film |
| 2001 | Scary Movie 2 | Mother | |
| 2002 | Mackenheim | Eleanor | Short film |
| 2003 | Just Married | Mrs. "Pussy" McNerney | Uncredited |
| 2004 | Twisted | Landlady | Uncredited |
| 2004 | Straight-Jacket | Jerry Albrecht | |
| 2004 | Kinsey | Sara Kinsey | |
| 2005 | Barry Dingle | Eleanor Dingle | |
| 2007 | Mommy's House | Mommy | Short film |
| 2007 | The Invasion | Wendy Lenk | |
| 2009 | Call of the Wild | Sheriff Taylor | |
| 2010 | Neowolf | Mrs. Belakov | |
| 2011 | InSight | Patricia | |
| 2011 | Montana Amazon | Margaret | |
| 2012 | The Yellow Wallpaper | Catherine Sayer | |
| 2013 | The Odd Way Home | Francine | |
| 2014 | The Town That Dreaded Sundown | Grandma Lillian | |
| 2015 | The Dark Below | Tess | |
| 2019 | Limbo | Louise | |
| 2019 | The Field | Edith | |
| 2020 | Breaking Fast | Judy | |
| 2022 | The Phantoms | Miss Sayer | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1959 | Zane Grey Theater | Sarah Butler | Episode: "The Lone Woman" |
| 1959 | Make Room for Daddy | Girl in Play | Episode: "Bob Hope and Danny Become Directors" |
| 1959–1961 | Leave It to Beaver | Violet Rutherford | Episode: "The Tooth" Episode: "Beaver and Violet" Episode: "Beaver's Rat" |
| 1960 | Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond | Gillian | Episode: "The Haunting" |
| 1960 | The Betty Hutton Show | Fake Foster Child | Uncredited, Episode: "Gullible Goldie" |
| 1960 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Viola Wellington | Season 5 Episode 35: "The Schwartz-Metterklume Method" (uncredited) |
| 1961 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Judy Davidson / Lettie / Lauretta Bishop | Season 6 Episode 15: "Summer Shade" |
| 1961 | Make Room for Daddy | Veronica | Episode: "Teacher for a Day" |
| 1962 | Route 66 | Miriam - age 9 | Episode: "Love Is a Skinny Kid" |
| 1962 | The Twilight Zone | Anne Rogers - age 11 | Episode: "I Sing the Body Electric" S3 E35 |
| 1963 | The Dick Powell Theatre | Unknown | Episode: "The Third Side of a Coin" |
| 1963 | Leave It to Beaver | Peggy MacIntosh | Episode: "Don Juan Beaver" |
| 1963 | The Eleventh Hour | Judith Cameron / Jan Ellendale | Episode: "My Name Is Judith, I'm Lost, You See" Episode: "The Silence of Good Men" |
| 1964 | Tell Me Not in Mournful Numbers | Unknown | Television film |
| 1964–1966 | Daniel Boone | Jemima Boone | 37 episodes |
| 1965 | Dr. Kildare | Nancy Hiller | Episode: "Take Care of My Little Girl" |
| 1965 | Who Has Seen the Wind? | Kiri Radek | Television film |
| 1968 | Mannix | Mrs. Goldberg | Uncredited, Episode: "Edge of the Knife" |
| 1968 | The Name of the Game | Nancy Robins | Episode: "High on a Rainbow" |
| 1969 | Family Affair | Jo-Ann | Episode: "Flower Power" |
| 1969 | Dragnet 1970 | Melissa Stevens | Episode: "Personnel: The Shooting" |
| 1969 | Mod Squad | Gail Whitney | Episode: "The Girl in Chair Nine" |
| 1970 | Death Valley Days | Unknown | Episode: "Simple Question of Justice" |
| 1970 | The Bold Ones: The Lawyers | Mary | Episode: "Point of Honor" |
| 1970 | Then Came Bronson | Petey Traine | Episode: "Still Waters" |
| 1970 | My Three Sons | Ruth Fletcher | Episode: "The Honeymoon" |
| 1973 | Here We Go Again | Nancy | Episode: "Sunday, Soggy Sunday" |
| 1976 | Bernice Bobs Her Hair | Marjorie | Television film |
| 1976 | Serpico | Lucy | Episode: "Dawn of the Furies" |
| 1980 | Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones | Marceline "Marcy" Jones | Miniseries |
| 1981 | The Big Black Pill | Sister Theresa | Television film |
| 1982 | Prime Suspect | Janice Staplin | Television film |
| 1985 | The New Leave It to Beaver | Violet Rutherford | Episode: "Violet Rutherford Returns" |
| 1985 | Robert Kennedy & His Times | Ethel Skakel Kennedy | Miniseries |
| 1986 | Intimate Encounters | Emily | Television film |
| 1987 | Miami Vice | Society Dame | Episode: "By Hooker by Crook" |
| 1988 | Tanner '88 | Molly Hark | Contract role |
| 1989 | Desperate for Love | Betty Petrie | Television film |
| 1989 | Baywatch | Mrs. Harris | Uncredited, Episode: "Panic at Malibu Pier" |
| 1989–1992 | L.A. Law | Assistant District Attorney Margaret Flanagan | Recurring role |
| 1990 | A Son's Promise | Dorothy Donaldson | Television film |
| 1990 | Hitler's Daughter | Patricia Benedict | Television film |
| 1991 | CBS Schoolbreak Special | Caroline Morris | Episode: "Abby, My Love" |
| 1991 | Dead in the Water | Victoria Haines | Television film |
| 1992 | Lincoln & Seward | Unknown | Television film |
| 1992 | Lincoln and the War Within | Unknown | Television film |
| 1993 | It's Nothing Personal | Barbara | Television film |
| 1993 | Triumph Over Disaster: The Hurricane Andrew Story | Carla Hulin | Television film |
| 1994 | Dead Air | The Caller | Television film |
| 1995 | My Brother's Keeper | Pat | Television film |
| 1996 | American Gothic | Angela | Episode: "Dr. Death Takes a Holiday" |
| 1996 | The Lottery | Maggie Dunbar | Television film |
| 1996 | Sliders | The Flame | Voice, Episode: "The Fire Within" |
| 1997 | ER | Norma Houston | Episode: "Whose Appy Now?" Episode: "Faith" |
| 1997 | Boston Common | Betty | Episode: "Here's to You, Mrs. Byrnes" |
| 1997 | Quicksilver Highway | Myra | Television film |
| 1997–1998 | George & Leo | Anna | Episode: "The Wedding" Episode: "The Nine Wives of Leo Wagonman" |
| 1998 | The Rat Pack | Rocky Cooper | Television film |
| 1998–2018 | The X-Files | Cassandra Spender | Recurring role; 4 episodes |
| 1999 | The Last Man on Planet Earth | Director Elizabeth Riggs | Television film |
| 1999 | Chicago Hope | Karen Flanders | Episode: "Team Play" |
| 1999 | Will & Grace | Judith McFarland | Episode: "Homo for the Holidays" |
| 2001 | Inside the Osmonds | Olive Osmond | Television film |
| 2001 | Touched by an Angel | Shirlee Gibbons | Episode: "Famous Last Words" |
| 2002 | Family Law | Norma Benson | Episode: "Arlene's Choice" |
| 2002 | Judging Amy | Dorothea Mitchell | Episode: "A Pretty Good Day" |
| 2003 | Without a Trace | Mrs. Beckworth | Episode: "There Goes the Bride" |
| 2004 | Dr. Vegas | Evelyn | Episode: "All In" |
| 2004–2005 | Six Feet Under | Peg Kimmel | Recurring role |
| 2005 | The Closer | Vera Mathers | Episode: "Good Housekeeping" |
| 2005 | Without a Trace | Susan | Episode: "John Michaels" |
| 2005 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Virginia Kennison | Episode: "Starved" |
| 2005 | Nip/Tuck | Mother Mary Claire | Episode: "Quentin Costa" |
| 2005–2006 | Invasion | Valerie Shenkman | Recurring role |
| 2006 | Boston Legal | Judge Peggy Zeder | Episode: "Helping Hands" |
| 2006 | Cold Case | Mary Ryan | Episode: "Dog Day Afternoons" |
| 2006 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Diane Chase | Episode: "Rashomama" |
| 2006 | 7th Heaven | Ms. Fitzhenry | Episode: "A Pain in the Neck" |
| 2006–2007 | The Nine | Barbara Dalton | Episode: "Brother's Keeper" Episode: "Confessions" Episode: "The Inside Man" |
| 2007 | October Road | Lynn Farmer | Episode: "Deck the Howls" |
| 2008 | The Mr. Men Show | Little Miss Elderly / Little Miss Jotünheim / Little Miss Scarlett | Voice |
| 2009 | Eastwick | Bun Waverly | Contract role |
| 2010 | Drop Dead Diva | Marian Porter | Episode: "Back from the Dead" |
| 2010 | Memphis Beat | Miranda | Episode: "I Shall Not Be Moved" |
| 2010–2012 | Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil | Ms. Dominic | Voice, recurring role |
| 2012 | Revenge | Judge Elizabeth Blackwell | Episode: "Scandal" Episode: "Justice" |
| 2013 | Non-Stop | Rose | Television film |
| 2014 | Resurrection | Helen Edgerton | Recurring role |
| 2015 | Bosch | Irène Saxon, Raynard Waits’ mother | Season 1 |
| 2016 | The Loud House | Sue | Voice, episode: "The Old and the Restless" |
| 2016 | Criminal Minds | Flora Martin | Episode: "The Bond" |
| 2017 | Mommy, I Didn't Do It | Judge Tannin | Television film |
| 2018 | Supernatural | Lily Sunder | Episode: "Byzantium" |
| 2019 | Chilling Adventures of Sabrina | Mrs. McGarvey | Episode: "Doctor Cerberus’s House of Horror" |
| 2019 | General Hospital | Sibley Gamble | Guest role |
| 2021 | The Good Doctor | Maxine Stanley | Episode: "Dr. Ted" |
| 2021 | The Resident | Celeste Crisforth | Episode: "Old Dogs, New Tricks" |
| 2023 | Gotham Knights | Eunice Harmon | 2 episodes |
| 2024 | A Man on the Inside | Beverley Bankl | 5 episodes |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2014 | Alien: Isolation | Joan Lambert | Voice; Nostromo Edition |
| 2015 | Fallout 4 | Trashcan Carla, Doc Anderson, Jackie Hudson, Bartender, Settlers, Vault 81 Residents | |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 1980 | Saturn Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Alien | Won |
| 1984 | Drama-Logue Awards | Outstanding Performance | The Hands of its Enemy | Won |
| 1988 | Saturn Awards | Best Supporting Actress | The Witches of Eastwick | Nominated |
| 1997 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series | ER | Nominated |
| 1998 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series | The X-Files | Nominated |
| 1999 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series | The X-Files | Nominated |
| 2003 | DVD Exclusive Awards | Best Audio Commentary | Alien | Won |
| 2005 | Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival | Best Supporting Actress | Barry Dingle | Won |
| 2005 | Glitter Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Straight-Jacket | Won |
| 2005 | Online Film & Television Association | Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture or Limited Series | Kinsey | Nominated |