Rutanya Alda

**Rutanya Alda** (born **Rūta Skrastiņa**; October 13, 1942) is a Latvian-American actress.

## Life

Rutanya Alda was born Rūta Skrastiņa in Riga, in German-occupied Latvia, the daughter of Vera (_née_ Ozoliņa), a businesswoman, and Jānis Skrastiņš, a poet. Alda, her grandmother, her mother and her brother spent seven years in a refugee camp in Allied-occupied Germany after World War II. She then moved with her family to the United States, briefly living in Chicago before settling in Flagstaff, Arizona.

## Career

She began her career in the late 1960s, and went on to have supporting movie roles in _The Deer Hunter_ (1978), _Rocky II_ (1979), and _Mommie Dearest_ (1981). She also appeared in a lead role in the horror movies _Amityville II: The Possession_ and _Girls Nite Out_ (both 1982). She was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Awards (Razzies) as "Worst Supporting Actress" two years in succession (1982 and 1983) for _Mommie Dearest_ and _Amityville II: The Possession_. She has also won a Clio Award and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

## Personal life

She was married to actor Richard Bright from 1977 until his death in 2006, when he was hit by a bus in New York City. They had one son, Jeremy.

### Movies

|Year|Title|Role|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1968|_Greetings_|Linda (Shoplifter)||
|1970|_Hi, Mom!_|Member of audience ('Be Black Baby' section)||
|1970|_The People Next Door_|Nurse||
|1971|_The Panic in Needle Park_|Admitting Nurse||
|1973|_The Long Goodbye_|Rutanya Sweet||
|1973|_Scarecrow_|Woman in Camper||
|1973|_Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid_|Ruthie Lee||
|1973|_Blume in Love_|Welfare Client|Uncredited|
|1974|_Can Ellen Be Saved? _|Rachael|Television movie|
|1976|_Deadly Hero_|||
|1976|_Next Stop, Greenwich Village_|Party Guest|Uncredited|
|1976|_Swashbuckler_|Bath Attendant||
|1978|_The Fury_|Kristen||
|1978|_The Deer Hunter_|Angela||
|1979|_Rocky II_|Doctor Cooper||
|1979|_When a Stranger Calls_|Mrs. Mandrakis||
|1980|_Christmas Evil_|Theresa|Credited as Ratanya Alda|
|1981|_Mommie Dearest_|Carol Anne||
|1982|_Girls Nite Out_|Barney / Katie Cavanaugh||
|1982|_Amityville II: The Possession_|Dolores Montelli||
|1983|_Vigilante_|Vickie Marino||
|1984|_Racing with the Moon_|Mrs. Nash||
|1985|_Rappin_'|Cecilia||
|1985|_The Stuff_|Psychologist||
|1987|_Black Widow_|Irene||
|1987|_Hotshot_|Georgia Kristidis||
|1988|_Apprentice to Murder_|Elma Kelly||
|1988|_Winnie_|Mrs. Paretti|Television movie|
|1989|_Last Exit to Brooklyn_|Georgette's Mother||
|1989|_Gross Anatomy_|Mama Slovak||
|1989|_Prancer_|Aunt Sarah||
|1990|_Rainbow Drive_|Marge Crawford|Television film|
|1992|_Article 99_|Ann Travis||
|1992|_Leaving Normal_|Palmer Hospital Nurse||
|1993|_The Dark Half_|Miriam Cowley||
|1993|_Children of the Mist_|Sue Madehearst||
|1994|_The Ref_|Linda||
|1994|_Safe Passage_|Beth||
|1996|_Innocent Victims_|Lorraine Taylor|Television movie|
|1996|_Double Jeopardy_|Gabriel Neuland|Television movie|
|1997|_American Perfekt_|Gloria||
|1997|_Steel_|Mrs. Hunt||
|1998|_The Souler Opposite _|Thea's Mom||
|2001|_My First Mister_|Woman at Apartment||
|2001|_The Glass House_|Vice Principal||
|2003|_Love Comes Softly_|Wanda Marshall|Television movie|
|2004|_Murder Without Conviction_|Virginia McAlpin|Television movie|
|2005|_Mystery Woman: Snapshot_|Marsha|Television movie|
|2005|_Detective_|Judge Beatrice Agannis|Television movie|
|2009|_Handsome Harry_|Mrs. Schroeder||
|2009|_Stolen_|Older Sally Ann||
|2010|_You Don't Know Jack_|Vendor|Television movie|
|2010|_Unring the Bell_|Belle|Short movie|
|2011|_Return _|Mrs. Miller||
|2011|_Too Big to Fail_|Admiral Evans|Television movie|
|2014|_Late Phases_|Gloria Baker||
|2015|_Ovum_|Barbara||
|2016|_Split_|Melissa||

### Web

- _Old Dogs & New Tricks_ (2014–16) – Barbara Fiere

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Rutanya Alda
- **birth name**: Rūta Skrastiņa
- **birth place**: Riga, Latvia
- **othername**: Ruth Alda, Ruth Avots, Rutanya Skrastiņa
- **yearsactive**: 1968–present
- **occupation**: Actress
- **children**: 1