Veronica Cartwright Talks with the Café about Hitchcock, Alien, and the Beaver

With a resume that includes Leave It to Beaver, The Birds, Alien, and The X Files, Veronica Cartwright has fashioned a lengthy, impressive acting career showcasing her versatility. She made her film debut at age 9 as Robert Wagner’s sister in 1958’s In Love and War. Ms Cartwright may have been the busiest child actor of the 1960s. On the big screen, she co-starred in The Children’s Hour, The Birds, and Spencer’s Mountain. On television, she appeared on four episodes of Leave It to Beaver (three times as Violet Rutherford) and she played Jemima Boone, Fess Parker’s daughter, on Daniel Boone. She also guest-starred in Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, Route 66, and other classic TV series. Unlike many child actors, she made an easy transition to adult roles, giving memorable performances in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Alien, The Right Stuff, and The Witches of Eastwick. Ms. Cartwright was nominated for an Emmy for Best Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for three consecutive years (twice for The X Files and once for ER). Earlier in her career, she won a regional Emmy for Best Actress in a Television Movie for Tell Me Not in Mournful Numbers. She is still in high demand in both movies and television, having recently appeared in Revenge, Grey’s Anatomy, and the Lifetime movie Non-Stop.

Café:  As a young actor, you appeared in films directed by William Wyler (The Children's Hour) and Alfred Hitchcock (The Birds). How did these great directors from Hollywood's Golden Age approach working with their actors?

With Tippi Hedren in The Birds.

Veronica Cartwright:  William Wyler had a very unconventional approach, especially working with children. I was auditioning for the role Mary and he shot off a gun to see my reaction. I ended up getting the part of Rosalie. There were some very emotional scenes and he would have me do them and really get there and then he would start shooting it. Alfred Hitchcock was always lovely. He just told us what he wanted and he always treated me like a colleague. He saw me in The Children’s Hour and then requested to meet me. I went to his bungalow on the Universal Studios lot and he told me his favorite wine cellar was in Bristol, which is where I was born, and then proceeded to tell me the names of wines. At 12 years old, I didn't need that information, but I wish I could remember the names now. He also told me how to cook a steak, which I would need to know when I got married, and I have since tried and it works. He was a riot and he just sat and talked to me. He just made me feel comfortable and I could ask him any questions I wanted about the production, the fake birds, etc.

Café:  You appeared in three of the most intense (and famous) scenes in The Birds: the attack at the school; the birthday party; and the birds swooping down the chimney. Which was the most demanding for you as an actress and why?

VC:  I didn't like those birds swooping down from the chimney. There were thousands of them. We were in a bubble and they would just swoop down and go to fly up and then realize there was nowhere to go. Then, they just dropped. That one was the most challenging because it was so confining.

Veronica as Violet Rutherford.

Café:  Having also appeared on other family sitcoms, such as Family Affair and My Three Sons, why do you think Leave It to Beaver has maintained its enduring popularity? And what was it like to play Violet Rutherford as an adult in 1985 on The New Leave It to Beaver?

VC:  I think just everybody could identify with the Beaver and his older brother. It was a clean, family show. I gave Beaver his first kiss at 9 years old. In the 1985 version, they intercut it with the kissing episode. In the movie, Violet poses as a real estate woman who has a side business of being a dominatrix. It was very funny.

Café:  Daniel Boone fans have long wondered why Jemima Boone, Daniel’s daughter, didn’t appear in any episodes after the second season. Was that the producers’ decisions (perhaps to trim costs) or did you want to pursue other acting opportunities?

VC:  I got to a certain point and they were giving me opportunities to be more of a romantic lead and have more mature story lines with such actors as Fabian. The actress playing my mother didn't care for that, so she wouldn't sign her contract if they brought me back. She felt that it aged her.

Café:  How did you come to be cast as Lambert in Alien?

Veronica as Lambert in Alien.

VC:  I auditioned for the character of Ripley and then I happened to be going to Europe, so I checked with my agent to see if the part had been cast yet. I thought being British it could be to my advantage for them to see me again, so I auditioned when I got to London. I got cast and I thought I got cast as Ripley. It wasn’t until I was contacted by wardrobe to be fitted for my space suit that I found out I was Lambert. She ultimately turned out to be the only sensible one.

Café:  Alien and Invasion of the Body Snatchers are two very different science fiction films. While both generate plenty of suspense, Alien depends, in large part, on a monster created by special effects. The most frightening aspect of Body Snatchers is its theme. Which kind of movie presents the biggest challenge to an actress? And which do you think is more terrifying?

VC:  Actually, there was no CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery). The Alien was a man from the Masai tribe who was over seven feet tall. They built the suit to fit him. He could only move very slowly and took mime lessons and tai chi. In a sense, Body Snatchers is more psychological. The scary thing about Body Snatchers was the aspect of living in a grey area and not feeling love or hate. There was always the prospect that if you fell asleep you could wake up and be a zombie. Alien was more like a Hitchcock film where your mind was doing more of the scaring because you would just see glimpses as an audience member until the Alien stepped out. They were both equally challenging for different reasons. I guess Alien was more terrifying because of the monster, but then again the other one is a creepy concept to think of.

As Cassandra Spender, with Fox Mulder
in the background.

Café:  On several episodes of The X Files, you played Cassandra Spender, an alien abductee who was the ex-wife of The Cigarette Smoking Man and mother of Agent Jeffrey Spender. How would you describe your X Files experiences?

VC:  Well, the first two episodes were shot in Canada. My character is wheelchair bound and we discover she has a chip in the back of her neck like Scully. I had been abducted and by the end of the second episode I was abducted again. When I came back I was now able to walk. My take on what happened was that since I knew so much about the aliens, I had become one of them. It was really fun. Chris Carter directed one of my episodes.

Veronica in Goin' South, directed by
Jack Nicholson.

Café:  You’ve worked with a number of famous directors: Hitchcock, Wyler, Ridley Scott, Philip Kaufman, and even Jack Nicholson. Who is your favorite director and why?

VC:  They are all great for their own reasons. I've done three movies with Phil. He knows you’ve done your homework and he trusts you to make a well rounded character. Jack is just nuts. He’s great. It’s like one big giant party. Ridley has a terrific eye for detail. And I already talked about my experiences with Hitchcock and Wyler.

Café:  You and your sister Angela appeared together in a 1960 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (“The Swartz-Metteaklume Method”) and you were a guest star on Make Room for Daddy. Were there ever any plans to make a movie starring the Cartwright sisters? (Perhaps a science fiction film for fans of Alien and Lost in Space?)

VC:  Well, at one point, Angela and I decided to get together with Tony Dow and a bunch of other actors like Billy Mumy, Billy Grey, Johnny Crawford and several others to make a space movie, but it never got off the ground.

Café:  Are you working on any projects now that you’d like to share with your fans?

VC:  Yes!  I’m on Resurrection, the ABC show, at 10 P.M. on Sundays starting March 9th. My character’s name is Helen Edgerton. Also, I am in the motion picture The Town that Dreaded Sundown. It is a remake of the 1976 movie of the same name and will be released by Sony in September.


You can learn more about Veronica Cartwright at her web site: www.veronica-cartwright.com. You can also follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/veesland.