RIP, Susan Tyrrell

It pains me to report that Susan Tyrrell has passed– one of my all-time favorite actors, and one of the most fearless, talented, and outrageous performers of her– or any other– generation.

She had a storied romance with Hervé Villechaize, performed for years a one-woman show entitled MY ROTTEN LIFE: A BITTER OPERETTA (which can be watched here), and was told by Tennessee Williams that "My favorite actors are fifty-percent male and fifty percent female.  You, my dear, are neither."  From dilapidated gin joints (FAT CITY) to the Middle Ages (FLESH + BLOOD), from teaming up with Clu Gulager (TAPEHEADS) to Michael Ironside (TALES FROM THE CRYPT), from playing a three-inch woman (BIG-TOP PEE-WEE) to a biker mama (CRY-BABY), from tendin' bar (ROCKULA) to reigning as Queen o'er the Sixth Dimension (FORBIDDEN ZONE), from Bukowski to BONANZA, she cut a swath of unmatched brilliance through cult and art and trash film alike!

Undaunted by cycles of misfortune (culminating perhaps in the amputation of her legs in 2000 as a result of a rare blood disease, thrombocythemia), she remained an outspoken, hard-drinkin', impudent, bawdy babe until the end– frequently spouting brilliant nuggets of crude wisdom on her Twitter account.  Here are just a few of her exquisite ruminations:

"For all you shit chompers out there...Eat at your own risk! Bon appetite! Love, Susu"

"Thank you my little pubes! I kiss you all in your sacred place! KISH KISH! ShuShu"

"I would so love to suck my tits (all 3 of them!), but they're on the floor past my stumps. This vision is my gift to the world!"

"Fuck and Paint, Fuck and Paint, Fuck and Paint, go to an audition, then Paint and Fuck. Ah, the good life--and that's the bitchin' truth."

"Honey, you either have to let em' drag you through the shit or EAT SHIT LIKE A MAN SON!!!!!"

"I was raised to be a bitch by a bitch who was raised by a bitch and that's the bitchin' truth!"

So eat your shit, and raise a glass to a grand old dame who sought truth in her performances– and found it; to a woman who spat in the eye of all that is holy in a world of endless filth; to a badass broad who stared into the abyss until that abyss blinked.  You are missed.