Accomplished character actress Veronica Cartwright has been particularly adept at-- and oft typecast as--hard-nosed, even nasty or bitchy, characters, whether they be mothers of career women. Born in England, she began acting as a young girl after her family moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1950s. During that decade, Cartwright toiled in guest appearances and smaller roles while her younger sister Angela earned her place as a trivia question by playing Danny Thomas' daughter on "Make Room For Daddy". Veronica landed good feature roles, however, ranging from her debut in "In Love and War" (1958) to the kleptomaniac forced to lie about her teachers in William Wyler's "The Children's Hour" (1961). In 1963, she was also the daughter of the family terrorized by Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" and Henry Fonda's child in "Spencer's Mountain". Although her sister had become the TV regular, from 1959, Cartwright had the recurring role of the bullying Violet Rutherford (who gave Theodore his first kiss) on ABC's "Leave It to Beaver" and she spent two seasons (1964-66) as the frontiersman's daughter Jemima, on the NBC series "Daniel Boone". Like many child performers, Cartwright hit an awkward stage and the acting jobs were not forthcoming. By the end of the 60s, her career had all but petered out so she returned to her native Britain. After nearly a decade, with only one feature appearance (in the dreadful "Inserts" 1975), Cartwright returned to the USA and resumed her acting career with a fresh outlook. Beginning slowly, she made a guest appearance on an episode of "Serpico" (NBC, 1976). Jack Nicholson cast her as his ex-lover in his directorial debut, "Goin' South" (1978). Cartwright then appeared in back-to-back sci-fi classics: Philip Kaufman's remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1978) and Ridley Scott's "Alien" (1979). During the 80s, she continued to find interesting roles, notably as the shrill wife of astronaut Gus Grissom furious she can't meet Jackie Kennedy after his space capsule is lost on his return in Kaufman's "The Right Stuff" (1983) and as the town harpy who denounces "The Witches of Eastwick" (1987). By the 90s, however, she could be seen in the unnecessary horror sequel "Mirror, Mirror 2: Raven Dance" (1994) and as the grand dame of a New Orleans family terrorized in "Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh" (1995).
In the 80s, her small screen roles improved. She was wife to cult leader Jim Jones in "Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones" (CBS, 1980) and portrayed Ethel Kennedy in the 1985 CBS miniseries "Robert Kennedy and His Times". Cartwright was a reporter covering the presidential campaign in Robert Altman's spoof of American politics "Tanner '88" (HBO, 1988). The actress had her best exposure in the recurring role of prosecuting attorney Margaret Flanaghan in the NBC legal drama "L.A. Law" from 1989-1992. In particular, she was the assistant D.A. who came head-to-head with Michael Kuzak (Harry Hamlin) during the prosecution of Earl Williams (Carl Lumbly), a college professor who is accused of murdering a student he was having an affair with, but was, in fact, found to be not guilty. Several years before the nation got to see Marcia Clark prosecute O J Simpson, they saw Cartwright do anything to get her conviction, including, as it turned out, subvert the law. Cartwright is also remembered as a mother in denial that her daughter was being sexually abused by her husband in "Abby, My Love", a 1991 "CBS Schoolbreak Special". She was the blindly ambitious wife of a vice president who would do anything to become First Lady in the USA Network movie "Hitler's Daughter" (1990) and a local society woman with lustful impulses in the USA Network original "Dead in the Water" (1991). During the 1996-1997 season, Cartwright made several appearances on "ER" (NBC) as the hard-edged mother of a teenager who wants to disconnect from his life support, a role for which she earned an Emmy nomination as Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series.
Profession(s):
Actor, waitress, perfume salesperson
Sometimes Credited As:
Hollywood Area Emmy Outstanding Performance "Tell Me Not in Mournful Numbers" 1963 - 1964
2004 Guest starred in the HBO series "Six Feet Under," created by Alan Ball
2004 Starred in Bill Condon's "Kinsey" opposite Liam Neeson, who portrayed Alfred Kinsey, a pioneer in the area of human sexuality research
2003 Played Mrs. McNerney (Pussy) in the romantic comedy "Just Married," which starred Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy
2001 Cast as Megan's mother in "Scary Movie 2"
1999 Guest starred on "Will and Grace," playing the role of Judith McFarland
1998 - 1999 Had recurring guest role as Cassandra Spender on "The X Files"; earned Emmy Award nomination
1996 Appeared as the mother of a terminally ill son in episodes of "ER" (NBC); earned Emmy Award nomination
1988 Played a reporter in episodes of Robert Altman's HBO series "Tanner '88"
1987 Appeared as the town harpy in "The Witches of Eastwick", starring Jack Nicholson
1985 Portayed Ethel Kennedy in the CBS miniseries "Robert Kennedy and His Times"
1983 Played wife to astronaut Gus Grissom in "The Right Stuff"
1981 TV-movie debut, "The Big Black Pill" (NBC)
1980 TV miniseries debut in "Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones" (CBS); played Marcy Jones the wife of the cult leader
1978 Initial screen collaboration with Jack Nicholson, "Goin' South"
1975 First feature in over a decade, "Inserts"
1964 Last feature for over a decade, "One Man's Way"
1963 Appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds"
1963 Played a schizophrenic child in "My Name Is Judith, I'm Lost You See" on NBC's "Eleventh Hour"
1963 Starred in the locally produced "Tell Me Not in Mournful Numbers"; aired in L.A. on November 7; Cartwright won a local area Emmy Award for her performance
1961 Cast as one of the gossiping schoolgirls in "The Children's Hour"
1959 - 1963 Had recurring role as Violet Rutherford on "Leave It to Beaver" (ABC)
1958 Made feature film debut in "In Love and War"
1956 Moved to the USA at age six and soon after began appearing in TV commercials (date approximate)
1953
Family moved to Canada when Cartwright was three years old (date approximate)
Played Jemima Boone on "Daniel Boone" (NBC)
Moved to London in the late 1960s
Returned to the USA in the late 1970s
Had recurring role as prosecutor Margaret Flanagan on the NBC drama "L.A. Law"
