Who

Kurtz has been performing on the stage and screen for three decades.

Backstory

Omaha-born Kurtz was named Swoosie after the bomber that her father, Colonel Frank Kurtz, flew during World War II. Following a nomadic childhood spent living in eight different states, Kurtz moved to LA to study theater at USC and then headed off to Europe to take classes at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Returning to the U.S. in the late '60s, she started out on the regional theater circuit, then made her TV debut in 1971 on As the World Turns. Kurtz appeared in off-Broadway shows throughout the '70s, and drew critical attention in 1977 for her role as a sex-obsessed writer in Wendy Wasserstein's Uncommon Women and Others. Kurtz's New York stage reputation was cemented a few years later when she won Broadway's version of the Triple Crown—a Tony, an Obie, and Drama Desk award—for 1980's The Fifth of July, making her the first woman ever to pull off the feat.

Throughout the '80s Kurtz was an omnipresent film and TV actress, starring in flicks like The World According to Garp, Wildcats, and Dangerous Liasons, and in stage productions like The House of Blue Leaves and Love Letters. In the early '90s, she branched out with her role on the soap opera-esque TV series Sisters, which ran until 1996. But she also had her share of embarrassing movie roles, including parts in Reality Bites, Liar Liar, and Cruel Intentions, as well as countless small appearances in TV movies and sitcoms.

Of note

Kurtz has managed to work almost non-stop since the '70s, and while she's taken her share of paycheck parts in otherwise crappy productions, she's usually a standout—she's been nominated for eight Emmys, with one win. Over the past several years, she's continued to pop up in a variety of media, with appearances in movies like The Rules of Attraction and Duplex and in TV shows like Huff, Lost, and Pushing Daisies. She's also kept up her work on stage, and earned a Tony nomination for 2004's Frozen.

Personal

Kurtz has been linked to Brent Spiner and Christopher Walken, but has never married. She splits her time between an apartment on Central Park West and a home in LA.

No joke

Her first television appearance was with her dad on the game show To Tell the Truth in 1962.