Mary Louise Weller, the actress best known for playing Mandy Pepperidge in the 1978 hit Animal House, has died at the age of 79. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the star, who hailed from New York, died from a brief illness on Thursday (1 October), just one day before her 80th birthday. Mary’s longtime partner, Michael Roy Curtis, confirmed her passing.
Born on 2 October, 1946, the fledgling star was raised in Westwood, LA. The goddaughter of Hollywood legend Danny Kaye, Mary’s father, Alex, a doctor, shared a close friendship with the Golden Globe and Tony Award winner, with whom he’d grown up. Meanwhile, Mary’s mother, Annette, was a homemaker.
A former Ford model, the aspiring actress began landing minor roles in the early 70s. The films Hail! (1972) and Serpico (1973) are listed among her earliest credits.
Weller pictured with Animal House co-star John Belushi and his wife, Judy Jacklin (Image: Getty)
By the end of the decade, Mary had moved into television, appearing in episodes of Baretta, Kojak, CHiPs, and Starsky & Hutch.
While Mary’s career was primarily rooted in TV, the star landed one of the biggest roles of her career in 1978, after being cast as Mandy Pepperidge in National Lampoon’s Animal House. Starring alongside John Belushi, Tim Matheson, Thomas Hulce and Karen Allen, Mary played Mandy Pepperidge, a sorority girl, and the love interest of Belushi’s character Bluto.
“I was the beautiful girl in trouble or the rich guy’s daughter who owns a Porsche and won’t give you the time of day,” Mary said of her career in a 1986 interview with the Los Angeles Times.
The actress also appeared in episodes of Kojak, CHiPs, and Starsky & Hutch (Image: Getty)
As per IMDb, Mary continued to act in the early 80s. Her final on-screen credits include episodes of Bloodtide (1982) and Quincy, M.E. (1983).
Speaking with Cult Film Freaks in 2012, Mary reflected on Animal House’s enduring legacy. “I’m pretty sure all of us knew that the movie would be a huge hit,” she recalled. “The script was simply brilliant.
“I remember showing it to Brandon Stoddard, who was head of ABC at that time. He also knew it would be an enormous hit, but he warned me that it would be the movie I would always be known for.”