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\nThis teenage actress – from films such as Orphan Train<\/i> (the first time I saw her), to Days of Heaven<\/i> (her voiceover makes that film what it is), and Dennis Hopper’s nihilistic punk-rock scream Out of the Blue<\/i> – is in my personal pantheon. She was a role model to me when I was a weird scrappy tomboy kid, filled with ambivalence about being born a girl – ambivalence I couldn’t of course name or even speak about, but I remember it very clearly. I didn’t NOT want to be a girl, but I didn’t want being a girl to LIMIT me. And I sensed those limits very VERY young. I can’t even express how important Linda Manz was in this aspect. Then, when I got serious about acting, I realized: Wow. This CHILD is one of the best actors I’ve ever seen. <\/p>\n
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I wrote about Out of the Blue<\/i><\/a> for my Film Comment<\/i> column. And she also came up in the piece I wrote about 1970s tomboy films<\/a>. Her work meant – and still means – so much to me. She was an outlaw. A wild swaggering KID. Totally herself. An acting genius in terms of just being herself in the moment (listen to that Days of Heaven<\/i> voiceover: has there ever been anything else like it?) For someone with such a small filmography, Linda Manz casts such a long shadow. I think she gives one of the great teenage performances of all time – of all time – in Out of the Blue<\/i>. <\/p>\n Rest in peace to a giant in my mind, a giant, an outlaw, a free spirit, an unfettered soul who could just BE all that on camera – in ways that have yet to be matched. She was one of a kind. <\/p>\n \n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This teenage actress – from films such as Orphan Train (the first time I saw her), to Days of Heaven (her voiceover makes that film what it is), and Dennis Hopper’s nihilistic punk-rock scream Out of the Blue – is … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/MV5BNjZhOGQyY2EtMjM1Zi00ZjgxLWJjM2EtNzQ0MDYxYjAyZDgwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNDYzNTI2ODc@._V1_SY1000_CR007241000_AL_.jpg\")
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