Whatever Happened to ’60s Teen Queen Tuesday Weld?

Tuesday Weld in 1960s custom image — Everett Collection

Tuesday Weld was born Susan Ker Weld on August 27, 1943, in New York City. The start of her life wasn’t easy. Her father died when she was just three years old, and her mother put her to work as a model to help support the family. By her early teens, she had already endured a nervous breakdown, problems with drinking, and even a suicide attempt, all while shouldering the pressures of being the family breadwinner. She legally changed her name to Tuesday Weld in 1959, adopting a nickname that evolved from “Tu-Tu,” the way a young cousin mispronounced Susan.

Her acting career began with early roles in films such as Alfred Hitchcock‘s The Wrong Man and Will Price’s Rock, Rock, Rock, both in 1956. Her big break came with The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis in 1959, where she played Thalia Menninger. The role won her a Golden Globe for Most Promising Female Newcomer in 1960 and made her one of the most recognizable teen stars of the era.

THE MANY LOVES OF DOBIE GILLIS, Tuesday Weld, Dwayne Hickman, 1959-63.

TV Guide/courtesy Everett Collection

During that time period, she also earned a reputation for turning down roles in major films that became massive hits, such as Lolita, Bonnie and Clyde, and Rosemary’s Baby.

In an interview on The Dick Cavett Show, she opened up about why she turned down many roles. She admitted, “I’ve turned down a lot of roles … perhaps for the same reason: moxie. I’ve turned down many roles over the years, for one reason, I was married, and another is that I retire quite often.” She added that her little girl, Natasha, took up a lot of her time. She turned down the lead in Bonnie and Clyde because she was nursing and wanted to enjoy the time with her baby.

Her personal life was often in the spotlight. She married screenwriter Claude Harz in 1965 and had her daughter, Natasha, before divorcing in 1971. In 1975, she married actor and musician Dudley Moore, and they had a son, Patrick, before divorcing in 1980. Her third marriage was to violinist and conductor Pinchas Zukerman in 1985, which ended in divorce in 1998. Between her marriages, she was romantically linked to several well-known figures, including Al Pacino, Ryan O’Neal, and Mikhail Baryshnikov.

WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN, Tuesday Weld, 1978

United Artists/Everett Collection

Through the 1960s, she took on varied roles in films, including High Time with Bing Crosby, Wild in the Country opposite Elvis Presley, and The Cincinnati Kid with Steve McQueen. In the 1970s, she transitioned to more mature and dramatic work, earning critical praise for Play It as It Lays in 1972, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination. She later received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Looking for Mr. Goodbar in 1977.

The 1980s brought her continued recognition, with strong roles in Michael Mann‘s Thief in 1981 and Sergio Leone‘s Once Upon a Time in America in 1984, which earned her a BAFTA nomination. She also appeared in television projects, including The Winter of Our Discontent in 1983, which brought her an Emmy nomination. After that period, her screen work slowed considerably. She appeared in Falling Down in 1993 and in two films in 2001, Investigating Sex, and Chelsea Walls, before retiring from acting for good.

In her later years, Weld lived in Colorado before eventually returning to California. In 2018, she purchased a home in the Hollywood Hills. but has kept a low profile. As of 2025, she is still alive at 82 years old, living a private life away from the spotlight.