Gwen Welles (born Gwen Goldberg, March 4, 1951 – October 13, 1993) was an American actress.

Early years

Gwen Welles was born in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

, as Gwen Goldberg. She was the daughter of clothing designer

Rebecca Welles Rebecca Welles (born Reba Tassell; February 5, 1928 – February 13, 2017) was an American television and film actress. Early years Welles was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Lena (née Schiller and Samuel Tassell. Her only sibling was fas ...

and Barton Goldberg; her sisters were Elizabeth (Betsy) Goldberg Welles and Lori Yarom. Gwen graduated from University High School in Los Angeles, California and attended

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

. When she was 17, she worked as a dress salesperson.

Career

Welles's film debut was in ''A Safe Place'' (1971). In the early 1970s, she acted in two films for Roger Vadim during three years that she spent in France. She may be best remembered for her portrayal of untalented singer Sueleen Gay in

Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was a five-time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director and is considered an enduring figure from the New H ...

's 1975 film ''

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

'', for which she was nominated for a

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...

, for Best Supporting Actress. Welles also appeared in Altman's ''

California Split ''California Split'' is a 1974 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Altman and starring Elliott Gould and George Segal as a pair of gamblers and was the first non-Cinerama film to use eight-track stereo sound. Plot In Los Angeles, ...

'' (1974), as well as several films directed by

Henry Jaglom Henry David Jaglom (born January 26, 1938) is an English-born American actor, film director and playwright. Life and career Jaglom was born to a Jewish family in London, England, the son of Marie (née Stadthagen) and Simon M. Jaglom, who wor ...

, including ''New Year's Day'' (1989) and ''Eating'' (1990).

Personal life

Welles was an advocate of yoga, usually meditating 20-30 minutes twice a day. During her three years in France, she lived with

Roger Vadim Roger Vadim Plemiannikov (; 26 January 1928 – 11 February 2000) was a French screenwriter, film director and producer, as well as an author, artist and occasional actor. His best-known works are visually lavish films with erotic qualities, su ...

. She told newspaper columnist Earl Wilson, "I was very naive. I was about 20. I was so in love with him. I would sulk for two hours, I would go to pieces, if he gave me a wrong look." During her time in Paris, she posed for a set of nude photographs for a magazine to earn money to remain there another year. She also was injured in an automobile accident. She married

Harris Yulin Harris Yulin (born November 5, 1937) is an American actor who has appeared in over a hundred film and television series roles, such as '' Scarface'' (1983), ''Ghostbusters II'' (1989), '' Clear and Present Danger'' (1994), '' Looking for Richard' ...

in 1975.

Death

Welles died from cancer of the bowel in 1993 at age 42.

Donna Deitch Donna Deitch (born June 8, 1945, San Francisco, California) is an American film and television director, producer, and writer best known for her 1985 film ''Desert Hearts''. The movie was the first feature film to depict a lesbian love story in ...

directed ''An Angel On My Shoulder'', a documentary about Welles' illness in 1992, which appeared at the IFC's Lesbian and Gay film festival in August 1998.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Welles, Gwen 1951 births 1993 deaths Actresses from Tennessee American film actresses Deaths from cancer in California People from Chattanooga, Tennessee 20th-century American actresses