Veronica Cartwright

For me, Bodega Bay, California has always been the site of the bird kingdom's revenge against us humans in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller, The Birds.  Yet here I am at the peaceful and lovely hillside nuptials of my galpal, Juanita, and her beau, Roy. Standing at the jagged edge of the Pacific Ocean in the charming village of Bodega Bay, I can't spot one bird! However, at Juanita and Roy’s reception at the rustic, cozy Bodega Bay Lodge & Spa, I espy Veronica Cartwright, who played preteen Cathy Brenner in the film.  So, naturally Ms. Ruby flutters over to her.

Veronica is one class act!  You have seen her beautiful puss a zillion times. In fact, it’s difficult to know where to begin with her credits because she has so many.  Here is a mish-mash of some of her stage, screen, and television roles: Twilight Zone, Leave It To Beaver, The Children’s Hour, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Alien, Electra, The Master Builder, The Witches of Eastwick, ER, L.A. Law, Judging Amy, The X Files, and Six Feet Under. Cartwright has even captured such historical women as Betty Grisson (The Right Stuff), Olive Osmond (Inside The Osmonds), and Ethel Kennedy (RFK: His Life and Times). This girl wears many faces!

In a nostalgic mood, Veronica and I drive a few miles into the town center to the old white singe-room schoolhouse, used as a location shot for The Birds. This is where Cathy and her classmates are brutally attacked by birds, as Melanie (Tippi Hedren) and Annie (Suzanne Pleshette) rush them to safety. We perch upon the school steps and shoot the breeze.

You’ve been involved with the AIDS epidemic for quite a while:  a member of AIDS Project Los Angeles and New York’s Gay Men’s Health Crisis Center, you’ve supported AIDS hospices, and you donate videos to an AIDS ward in San Francisco.  Tell me what motivates you.

Well, my good friend, (actor, Midnight Express, Chariots of Fire, Querelle) Brad Davis, died from AIDS, and no one knew he had it.  He kept it a secret. I saw him three weeks before he died.  He was doing a TV movie, and afterwards came to visit me in New York.  He looked just awful but he said, “We’ve been in the swamps and crawling around in 115 degree weather….”  Three weeks later my girlfriend called and said you’re gonna see it on the news…..  (She pauses.)  Brad lived the fast and furious life; he had AIDS for eight years. He and I were inseparable. What fun times we had.

I remember Brad’s death.  In fact, he and I used to take gymnastic classes together in the eighties. What a surprise to learn he had AIDS. You must miss him.

Yes! I have such great memories.  I remember the good times. It’s hard, but I feel Brad is still with me in spirit.

You believe in an afterlife?

Something is definitely out there because energy doesn’t die.  There’s just too much energy.  I was raised Catholic, but truly don’t think there’s a heaven and a hell.

Oh, come on.  I love life but  life is hell.

 I know. That’s what Richard Dreyfuss says:  ‘We’re living the hell.’

AIDS has all but disappeared from the news now. What can we do to bring it back to the forefront?

It’s scary, Ruby.  By the way, I used to have a red bowling ball named Ruby. [We chuckle.]  People have become complacent. I don’t know, if you start talking about it people say, ‘Oh, we’ve been there, done that.’ It’s sad.  I hope we don’t have this President again for four more years.

From your mouth to God’s ear. You know if one of Bush’s girls had AIDS…..

Oh, I know.  Everything would change.  They’ve been arrested for being drunk, and he just blows it over.

You are one of the kids who made the transition from child actor to adult actor.

My sister (Angela Cartwright who starred in the film Sound of Music and TV’s Make Room For Daddy and Lost In Space) and I had very supportive parents.  Most kid actors do not come from horrible families.

Speaking of kids, your son, Dakota is now twelve; the same age you were when you made The Birds.  How are you handling the AIDS situation with him?

He just went thru sex education at school. After they showed a film he said to me: ‘We just saw the birth of a baby today.  How gross!’  (She laughs.) He’s at the age where very soon I will be discussing AIDS with him. He’s definitely aware of the disease, as we have friends who are HIV-positive. I have a very open relationship with him.  

As we sit here on the very steps from which you fled in The Birds over forty years ago, what memories flood your mind?

Well, they all threw me a surprise thirteen-birthday party on the set. And Hitch drew his face (the now famous caricature) on a piece of board and he wrote, ‘To the woman I love, Veronica,’ and then he signed it.  I framed it and still have it. When I arrived home after the party, there were bouquets of lilacs that were as tall as me.

Seems you had a nice rapport with Hitch.

Yeah, I did.  He was always really great to me. I liked him.

You got on well with the other cast members as well?

Oh, absolutely. I run into Tippi all the time.  We used to have the same gynecologist.

What’s your next project?

Well, besides interior design, Kinsey opens in November. It’s with Liam Neeson and Laura Linney.  A really good film!

I didn’t know you design too.

As I get older there are fewer parts. It’s a great outlet.  I’ve always had a terrific eye for color.  Just as much energy goes into that as it does into acting. 

And the name of your company?

Cartwright Design House.

Out of all the roles you’ve played, do you have a favorite character?

Yes. Harlene in Inserts (1975), and Felicia in Witches of Eastwick

(1987)

 Of all the actors you’ve performed with, is there one that stands out, or influenced you the most?

Shirley MacLaine.

Veronica, don’t look now, but I see a few crows gathering over there on the jungle-bars.  Maybe we should fly, girl…

Ruby Comer is an independent journalist from the Midwest who is happy to call Hollywood her home away from home. Reach her by e-mail at MsRubyComer@aol.com.

September 2004

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