Laurie Bird(1953-1979)

Laurie Bird was a cute and charming actress who appeared in only three pictures during her regrettably short-lived career. Bird was born on September 26, 1953 in Long Island, New York. Laurie was working as a model when she was chosen by director Monte Hellman, from nearly 500 women, to portray "The Girl" in Two-Lane Blacktop (1971). Bird gave a fine and impressively natural performance in her film debut as the chatty and rootless hippie wanderer, "The Girl", in Hellman's extraordinary road movie masterpiece. She was likewise excellent as Harry Dean Stanton's snippy young wife, "Dody Burke White", in Hellman's bleakly fascinating character study Cockfighter (1974). Following her small role as Paul Simon's L.A. girlfriend in Woody Allen's Annie Hall (1977), Laurie quit acting, altogether, and became a photographer. Bird committed suicide in boyfriend Art Garfunkel's Manhattan penthouse, at the tragically young age of 25, on June 15, 1979. Garfunkel dedicated his album, "Scissors Cut", to Laurie. The album features a partial photograph of Laurie Bird on its back cover.