Swoosie Kurtz, the stage and screen actress best known for her television work in the 1990s, was seen taking a walk in Los Angeles earlier this month, where photographs published by the Daily Mail showed the 81-year-old looking notably youthful.
Kurtz, who recently celebrated her 81st birthday on Sept. 6, was photographed wearing a gray-blue button-up long-sleeve top, navy sweatpants and black trainers while out for light exercise. She wore her shoulder-length red hair parted to the side and carried a smartwatch on her wrist. The actress, who typically keeps a low public profile, has remained active in television and behind-the-scenes voice work in recent years.
Born in 1944 in Omaha, Nebraska, Kurtz made her television debut at age 17 with an appearance on The Donna Reed Show in 1962 and appeared on To Tell the Truth the following year. Her father, Colonel Frank Kurtz, was an Olympic bronze medalist in diving in 1932 and later served as a decorated Army pilot during World War II.
Kurtz established herself as a full-time actress by 1971 with a role on the soap opera As the World Turns and gained prominence on stage during the 1970s. She won the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for her role in Lanford Wilson's Fifth of July, an achievement often described as theatre's "triple crown." She later won a second Tony Award in 1986 for her performance in John Guare's The House of Blue Leaves.
Her television profile rose over subsequent decades. Kurtz won an Emmy for a guest role on the anthology series Carol & Company and was a main cast member of NBC's drama Sisters from 1991 to 1996. She has also appeared on series including Suddenly Susan, ER and Pushing Daisies, the latter a critically acclaimed dramedy that aired from 2007 to 2009. From 2010 to 2016 she played the mother of the title character on the sitcom Mike & Molly.
In film, Kurtz had notable roles in the 1980s, appearing in The World According to Garp (1982), Against All Odds (1984), True Stories (1986) and Dangerous Liaisons (1988). Her television work continued into the 2010s and 2020s: she was a series regular on Call Me Kat, which aired for three seasons before its cancellation in 2023.
More recently, Kurtz has concentrated on voice acting, contributing to animated series such as the rebooted Rugrats, Bless the Harts and American Dad. She also made on-screen appearances as schedules permitted and has kept a relatively private personal life while maintaining a steady presence in entertainment.
Kurtz pronounces her first name to rhyme with "Lucy." The Los Angeles sighting underscores her continued public visibility, though she remains primarily recognized for a career that spans stage, film and television across six decades.