A Memorable Role in a Comedy Classic
Mary Louise Weller, the actress who brought sorority girl Mandy Pepperidge to life in the 1978 comedy classic Animal House, passed away on October 1 following a brief illness. Her death occurred just one day before she would have turned 80. Weller had accumulated two dozen other film and television credits over her career.[S1]
Before landing the role of Mandy in John Landis's early-1960s college comedy Animal House, Weller had appeared in bit parts in two movies and guested on the TV dramas Kojak and Baretta. The Mandy role was a key supporting part: her character was the girlfriend of Greg, president of Delta Tau Chi's rival fraternity, and she had a fling with Delta's Otter, played by Tim Matheson.[S1]
From Parade Float to Senator's Wife
Mandy, the leading figure among her Pi sorority sisters, is seated on a parade float at the story's climactic homecoming celebration when Delta house member John "Bluto" Blutarsky, portrayed by John Belushi and dressed as a pirate, carries her off. During the movie's closing "What became of..." sequence, she appears cuddled beside Bluto in a convertible as the pair are labeled Senator and Mrs. Blutarsky.[S1]
A Career Beyond Animal House
Weller was born in New York City on October 2, 1946. After Animal House, she took guest roles on a string of hit shows, among them Starsky & Hutch, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, B.J. and the Bear, Vega$, plus two appearances each on Fantasy Island and CHiPs. On the big screen she shared top billing with Chuck Norris in the 1982 crime thriller Forced Vengeance, and that same year she turned up in Bloodtide and Q: The Winged Serpent.[S1]
The last entry on her résumé came in 1983, with an episode of the Jack Klugman crime drama Quincy, M.E. No details about surviving family members or any memorial service were released.[S1]
