Wendie Jo Sperber
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). Early life. Sperber was born in Hollywood to Burton S. Sperber and Charlene Sperber, and had three siblings (Ellice, Michelle and Richard). Career. Sperber began her screen career at a young age when she was cast in the small role of "Kuchinsky", in Matthew Robbins' 1978 teen comedy "Corvette  Summer," alongside Mark Hamill and Annie Potts. She appeared in Robert Zemeckis' period comedy "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," as the irrepressible "Rosie Petrofsky". Sperber was overweight, but was able to move quickly on screen ("Entertainment Weekly" described Rosie Petrofsky as "a screaming Beatlemaniac who, among other things, climbed through elevator shafts"), and her "girl next door" appearance helped her to overcome the stigma of her weight. She played the title role in the "ABC Afterschool Special" feature "Dinky Hocker", which dealt with a teenager's attempts to hide her feelings by eating, and engaged in physical comedy in Steven  Spielberg's "1941". Zemeckis, who also worked on "1941", brought Sperber back to the big screen in 1980 with a role in his comedy "Used Cars," but it was on television that year that Sperber finally began to receive more serious attention. She was cast in the role of "Amy Cassidy"—a character that was funny, romantic, and exuberant— in the series "Bosom Buddies" starring Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari. Following its cancellation in 1982, Sperber appeared in the comedy "The First Time," and worked a year on the series "Private Benjamin". She then resumed her feature work in the Tom  Hanks theatrical vehicle "Bachelor Party", directed by Neal Israel. Israel used 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". Sperber's roles grew larger in the wake of "Back to the Future," and over the next decade she starred in the series "Babes" (a comedy about three zaftig women). In 1994, Sperber was cast in a major supporting part in the CBS-TV series "Hearts Afire". By this time, she had lost  a lot of weight. As far as acting roles were concerned, she preferred comedy. As she told "TV Guide" in 1990, "I'm an actress who likes to say something funny—everybody laughs and your job is done." 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 lending her voice to "Roger 'n' Me", an episode of "American Dad!" that aired in 2006, after her death. Advocacy. In addition to her work on TV and movies, Sperber also was the founder of 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, the organization was her key cause and effort in the last year of her life with her stating "The whole idea of 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." Each year, put on an extravagant benefit show called to raise funds for the organization. The event was attended by many of Sperber's friends and colleagues, including Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, John Ritter, and Eric McCormack. In 1998, Sperber also helped the United States Postal Service unveil and promote a breast-cancer stamp. Personal life. In 1983, Sperber married Richard Velasquez and had a son, Preston, in 1986, and a daughter, Pearl, in 1990. Pearl also goes by the name "Daphne". The marriage ended in divorce in 1994. In 1997 , Sperber was diagnosed with breast cancer, which seemed to go into remission following treatment. She revealed in April 2002 that the cancer had reappeared and spread throughout her body, and by mid-2004 she had undergone experimental brain radiation therapy. 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 of breast cancer on November 29, 2005, at the age of 47.