Former actress Mary Louise Weller, best known for her role as a sorority coed in the movie Animal House has died. She was 79.
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Weller’s longtime partner, Michael Roy Curtis announced that she died from a brief illness on October 1, one day before her 80th birthday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Before acting, Weller was a Ford model and longtime spokesperson for Jean Naté fragrance. One of her earliest roles was an uncredited party goer in 1973’s Serpico.
But her big break came in 1978 when she was cast as Pi House sorority sister Mandy Pepperidge. While her character is initially dating Omega House chapter president Gregory Marmalard played by James Daughton, Mandy is the object of John “Bluto” Blutarsky’s affection.
At the end of the movie, we learn that Blutarsky, played by John Belushi, and Mandy marry, and he becomes a U.S. Senator.
Weller said she “was pretty sure” Animal House would be a success when asked in 2012. “I remember showing [the script] to Brandon Stoddard, who was head of ABC at that time. He also knew it would be an enormous hit … but he warned me that it would be the movie I would always be known for.”
While that happened, Weller also appeared on television shows including Baretta, Kojak, Starsky & Hutch, Supertrain, Vegas, Fantasy Island, CHiPs.
“I was the beautiful girl in trouble or the rich guy’s daughter who owns a Porsche and won’t give you the time of day,” she said in a 1986 interview with the Los Angeles Times.
She also appeared in the 1979 adaption of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar. And as Chuck Norris’ love interest in 1982’s Forced Vengeance.
Weller did theater in New York, and she also wrote the play called Four Alone. Her last screen credit was a 1983 episode of Quincy, M.E.