Character Actress for 70 Years, Dies at 96

Gwen Van Dam, a veteran character actress of seven decades whose 140 credits spanned television, film and the Los Angeles stage, died Dec. 19 at her home in West LA. She was 96.

Per previous reporting attributed to her son Dirk Smillie, the cause of death was a recurrence of cancer.

Throughout her long-tenured career, Van Dam appeared in 1978’s Halloween with Jamie Lee Curtis, 1994’s Star Trek Generations with Patrick Stewart, the romantic war drama Coming Home featuring Jane Fonda and Jon Voight and the Sidney Poitier-helmed Gene Wilder pic Stir Crazy.
Among her television credits are illustrious series like Days of Our Lives, Gilmore Girls, Knots Landing, ER, Moonlighting, The Brady Bunch, Maude, Owen Marshall, New Girl, Modern Family and Criminal Minds.
On the music video side of things, she appeared in visual works for U2, Smashing Pumpkins, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Panic! At the Disco and heavy metal band Mastodon.

Van Dam performed until her death. Most recently, she appeared in two episodes of the Apple TV+ series Interior Chinatown. In 2018, she appeared in the first five episodes of Amazon’s Homecoming, the thriller starring Julia Roberts and Janelle Monáe. Earlier, she was in Netflix’s Grace and Frankie.

The actress was also prolific on stage, appearing in productions at 14 different theater companies in the City of Angels, including the Mark Taper Forum, Globe Theater, LAAT and the Norris Theater. She received the Road Theatre’s Best Supporting Actress award for her role in The Ballad Hunter and the Group Rep’s Best Actor Award for Happy End.

In a 2011 LA Stage Times profile, “Gwen Van Dam Takes A Trip,” a reviewer noted that, in the lead role of Carrie Watts in The Trip to Bountiful, “Gwen Van Dam has big shoes to fill – Geraldine Page (the film) and Lillian Gish (the play). Ms. Van Dam chooses rightly to make her own path and use her own assets and experiences. She brings a sweetness and vulnerability to the role. You will love … traveling this important journey with her.”

Born Gwendolyn Greta Van Dam in San Francisco, she discovered her love of acting in college, graduating with a B.A. from San Jose State University in 1950. She left home for New York after writing a letter to Broadway and West End performer Gertrude Lawrence for advice on landing roles in New York, who suggested she contact her husband, producer Richard Aldrich; he cast her in a touring show, The Guardsman, where she met her future husband Bill Smillie, then the show’s property manager.
She clinched early roles in TV series and summer stock theater in the Northeast and studied with acting teacher Mira Rostova at the Herbert Berghof (HB) Studio in New York. At this point, she was offered a screen test for the forthcoming production of From Here to Eternity (the 1953 romantic war drama film) and a 7-year acting contract with Columbia Pictures. Fellow student Montgomery Clift (who ironically ended up starring in the aforementioned film) cautioned Van Dam against the deal: “Are you sure you want to move to Hollywood? It could destroy you.” She later admitted it was the worst mistake of her career.

Among her New York friends in the 1960s was the artist Joseph Cornell, whose surrealist shadow boxes landed him one-man shows at museums like the Guggenheim. Cornell produced a shadow box for Van Dam, “An Owl for Gwendolyn,” and went on to produce a short, experimental film featuring Van Dam and her sister Jeanie.

Every New Year’s Day, Van Dam and her husband (also a veteran actor, who died in 2003) hosted an annual holiday party at their home, drawing a lively mix of industry friends, including Len Lesser (Seinfield‘s Uncle Leo), Marvin Kaplan (who once worked with Charlie Chaplin) and Tina Louise (Ginger on Gilligan’s Island).

Van Dam is survived by her daughter, Claudia Tumas; son Dirk Smillie; and grandchildren Lorelei, Amanda and Crystal. A service will be held in early February in Hollywood.