39. She Had Bad Timing
Pretty Poison actually got quite good reviews and did eventually achieve cult status. There is, however, a good reason why it failed at the box office. The release date of this comedy about two brutal young people on a rampage in America was right around the time that there were two horrible American tragedies: the murders of Martin Luther King Jr and Robert Kennedy.
America was simply not in the mood for this kind of parody. And do you know what Weld wasn’t in the mood for? Roman Polanski.
Pretty Poison (1968), Twentieth Century Fox
40. She Told Him Where To Put It
Tuesday Weld was not afraid to say no when she thought a part wasn’t right. In 1971, Roman Polanksi offered her a role in his version of Macbeth where she had to sleepwalk wearing nothing at all. Weld very matter of factly told Polanksi where he could shove his offer. Maybe Weld had a sixth sense about Polanski, because six years later, he was on the run from the law for mistreating a 13-year-old girl. Phew, close call.
It turned out that Weld was actually quite famous for near misses.
41. She Avoided Success
Much has been said about all the films Weld didn’t do. In 1969, she refused an offer to appear in True Grit. This would have been alongside John Wayne, who won an Oscar for his role. She also rejected 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde and 1969’s Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. For these two films, she told reporters that they sounded like they would be too successful—so she wanted nothing to do with them.
In 1975, she again said no, this time to a film that would have kept her name alive forever: the ultimate cult hit, The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Warner Bros./Seven Arts
42. She Played Her Future Self
In 1972, Weld had a starring role in Play It as It Lays. Here, she got to star beside her friend Anthony Perkins for the second time. Some call this role one of Weld’s best, and I would say it's because she’s played a character that hit close to home. In the film, she plays Maria, an ex-model (check) and B-movie actor (check) who is unhappily separated from her husband (check).
Unsurprisingly, she nailed it. The people at the Golden Globes agreed and gave her a nomination for best actress.
Play It As It Lays (1972), Universal Pictures
43. She Was Looking
1977 saw Weld team up with Diane Keaton in Looking for Mr. Goodbar. That same year, Keaton had made Annie Hall—which won her a Golden Globe and an Oscar—so it was a good match for Weld. It was Weld, however, who found the greater success in this film: She got the nod from the Academy for the supporting actress role. But that wasn't all.
Due to the role, she also began dating ultra-handsome Richard Gere. Coincidentally, Weld and Keaton would soon cross paths again...when they both dated Al Pacino.
44. She Married Again...And Again
Between all the amazing dates she had, Weld also managed to marry two more men. In 1975, Weld married the bumbling, comedic actor Dudley Moore, and they had a son together. This marriage ended in divorce in 1980, but another marriage followed soon after. In 1985, she hooked up with and married a violinist and conductor named Pinchas Zukerman.
This marriage, however, seemed like trouble from the start—and for a very scary reason.
45. Their House Had Bad Karma
In 1988, Norman Kean, a Broadway producer, took a blade to his wife and then jumped off the roof of his apartment. Neither Kean nor his wife survived the harrowing ordeal, which meant that their home in Montauk went up for sale. Weld and Zukerman were house-hunting at the time and seemed to have no qualms about living in the home of this obviously deranged man.
Without a second thought, they bought the house and moved right in.
46. She Lost Her Shirt
After the unlucky 13th year of marriage, Weld and Zukerman decide to call it quits. Weld reportedly said that she didn’t want to hear another note of his music, which made living with a musician kind of difficult. What was more difficult, however, was selling their allegedly haunted home. Even 20 years after the horrific incident, buyers were still wary of buying a house linked to such infamy.
In 2009, Weld finally sold it: for about $2 million dollars under asking. The actress had more or less solved her housing problem. Now, it was time for her reputation to take another nosedive.
47. She Was A Daughter Dearest
Weld and her mother had a rather horrible relationship, and it led Weld to do something awful: She told people her mother was no longer alive. It’s a pretty nasty thing to do, but Yosene eventually got her revenge. Mom got her story told in a book, and the title was probably the best thing about it. She called it: If It’s Tuesday…I Must Be Dead.
In the book, Yosene gets to blame all her troubles on Weld. Some even gave it the nickname Daughter Dearest, comparing it to Mommie Dearest by Joan Crawford’s daughter. Incidentally, Yosene passed in 2001: two years before the book's release.
History's most fascinating stories and darkest secrets, delivered to your inbox daily.
48. She Was Finally Free
The passing of Yosene was a difficult time for Weld and she seemed very conflicted about it. While she said that without her mom around she finally felt free, she also said that her passing meant very little to her. Creepier still, Weld insists that she continues to feel Yosene’s presence in her life. She even entertains the idea that she could be reincarnated.
Her mother had been a dominating force her entire life. What would Weld do now that Yosene was gone?
49. She Called It Quits
Just before her mother’s passing, in 2001, Weld said so long to Hollywood—and movies—and moved to Colorado. It seemed Weld was in search of some peace and quiet, expressing a hunger for silence. Still, dark rumors swirl around her. Some wonder if Weld has bipolar disorder; others have said that she dabbles in the occult. This is all speculation, but we do know one thing...
17 years after moving away to find peace and quiet, she moved back to Hollywood. Maybe we’ll see her in the movies one more time.
50. She Became A Phenomenon
Even if she never makes another film, Weld’s talent and allure will stay with us. Her name has been referenced in such diverse TV shows as The Flintstones, American Horror Story, and Two and a Half Men. Her face even appeared on the 1999 cover of the Matthew Sweet album Girlfriend. Two other bands went a little further and actually took her name for theirs: British band The Real Tuesday Weld and a German band simply called Tuesday Weld.
Weld says she appreciates her cult status, calling it “a very nice thing”.
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23
