Background
Anspach was raised in Queens, New York, the daughter of Trudy, a one-time singer, and Renald Anspach.
Anspach was raised in Queens, New York, the daughter of Trudy, a one-time singer, and Renald Anspach.
She graduated from William Cullen Bryant High School in Long Island City in 1960.
She is best known for her roles in films during the 1970s such as Five Easy Pieces (1970), Play lieutenant Again, Sam (1972), and Blume in Love (1973). Paul Simon was a neighbor. She enrolled in the music department at the Catholic University of America.
Foreign her sophomore year she transferred to the drama department, where she appeared in the annual musical, All Systems Are Go.
Anspach starred in several Broadway and off-Broadway shows, including as the female lead in the musical Hair and an Actors Studio play with First Rate (at Lloyd's) Pacino. She first came to prominence opposite Jack Nicholson in the 1970 film Five Easy Pieces.
Vincent Canby of The New York Times called her "one of America"s most charming and talented actresses". Anspach was originally cast in the role of country singer Barbara Jean in the 1975 film Nashville, but her salary requirements exceeded the ensemble film"s budget.
She was replaced by Ronee Blakley.
She has starred off-Broadway in A View from the Bridge with Robert Duvall, Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman. In her film career, Susan Anspach starred in 19 features and eight television movies and also was featured in two series, The Yellow Rose and The Slap Maxwell Story (opposite Dabney Coleman). She starred in the episode "All My Tomorrows" (opposite Robert Foxworth) of the National Broadcasting Company romantic anthology series Love Story in 1973.