Gwen Welles was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 actress.

Biography

She was born in 1951 in Chattanooga, Tennessee

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in the US state of Tennessee , with a population of 169,887. It is the seat of Hamilton County...

, as Gwen Goldberg, the daughter of Rebecca Weis Welles (born 1928)

Rebecca Welles (Weis)

Rebecca Welles is an American television and film actress.-Career:Born as Reba Tassell, Welles is sister of fashion designer Gustave Tassell...

, also an actress. Welles appeared nude in Playboy magazine in 1975.Welles was married to actor Harris Yulin

Harris Yulin

Harris Yulin is an American actor who has appeared in dozens of Hollywood and television films.-Life and career:Yulin was born in...

. Gwen Welles' father was Barton Goldberg, and her sister was Elizabeth (Betsy) Goldberg Welles. Gwen graduated from University High School in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

.

Gwen Welles may be best-remembered for her portrayal of talentless singer "Sueleen Gay", in Robert Altman

Robert Altman

Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...

's 1975 film Nashville, for which she was nominated for a BAFTA Award, for Best Supporting Actress. Welles also appeared in several films directed by Henry Jaglom

Henry Jaglom

- Life and career :Born January 26, 1941 in London, England to Simon and Marie Jaglom, Henry Jaglom trained with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio in New York, where he acted, wrote and directed off-Broadway theater and cabaret before settling in Hollywood in the late 1960s...

, including New Year's Day (1989) and Eating (1990).

She died in 1993 from anal cancer

Anal cancer

Anal cancer is a type of cancer which arises from the anus, the distal orifice of the gastrointestinal tract. It is a distinct entity from the more common colorectal cancer. The etiology, risk factors, clinical progression, staging, and treatment are all different. Anal cancer is typically a...

, aged 46. Her younger sister, Elizabeth (Betsy Goldberg Welles), died from colon cancer 10 years later. Donna Deitch

Donna Deitch

Donna Deitch is an American film and television director best known for her 1986 film Desert Hearts. The film was groundbreaking as one of the first releases to depict a lesbian love story in a generally mainstream, albeit art house, vein but with positive and respectful themes...

 directed a documentary about Welles' illness in 1992, which appeared at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival.

Selected filmography

• A Safe Place
  A Safe Place
  A Safe Place is a 1971 film starring Jack Nicholson, Tuesday Weld, Orson Welles and Phil Proctor and directed by Henry Jaglom....
  
  (1971)
• Hellé (1972)
• Hit!
  Hit!
  Hit! is a 1973 action film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Billy Dee Williams and Richard Pryor. It is about a federal agent trying to destroy a drug zone after his daughter dies from a heroin overdose.-Cast:*Billy Dee Williams - Nick Allen...
  
  (1973)
• California Split
  California Split
  California Split is a 1974 film directed by Robert Altman and starring Elliott Gould and George Segal as a pair of gamblers. It was the first non-Cinerama movie to use eight-track stereo sound.-Plot:...
  
  (1974)
• Nashville (1975)
• Star 80
  Star 80
  Star 80 is a 1983 American film about the true story of Playboy Playmate of the Year Dorothy Stratten, who was murdered by her estranged husband Paul Snider in 1980...
  
  (1983)
• Desert Hearts
  Desert Hearts
  Desert Hearts is a 1985 lesbian-themed romantic drama film loosely based on the Jane Rule novel Desert of the Heart. Directed by Donna Deitch, the film stars Helen Shaver and Patricia Charbonneau with a supporting performance by Audra Lindley....
  
  (1986)
• Nobody's Fool
  Nobody's Fool (1986 film)
  Nobody's Fool is a 1986 comedy film written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Beth Henley. It stars Rosanna Arquette, Eric Roberts and Mare Winningham. The film is a romantic drama/comedy involving the lead character Cassie who seeks love, and escape from her mundane ordinary life...
  
  (1986)
• New Years' Day (1989)
• Eating (1990)

External links

• Gwen Welles Web Site