Mary Louise Weller, 1946 – 2026

Model turned actress Mary Louise Weller, 80, died on Oct. 1. Best known for playing snooty blonde sorority girl Mandy Pepperidge in Animal House, Weller “flew out of the womb in full camera makeup and screaming ‘HAIR... MAKEUP!!!,” she joked. An actress and model from an early age, by the 1970s she was appearing on TV in Starsky & Hutch, Fantasy Island, B.J. and the Bear, Supertrain, Kojak, Vega$, and CHiPs. Besides Animal House, she had roles in such films as Serpico, The Evil, The Bell Jar, and Q: The Winged Serpent, as well as a leading part in the TV-movie Hunters of the Reef. Weller told writer James M. Tate of Animal House, “I'm pretty sure all of us knew that the movie would be a huge hit. The script was simply brilliant. I remember showing it to Brandon Stoddard, who was head of ABC at that time. He also knew it would be an enormous hit, but he warned me that it would be the movie I would always be known for.” Stoddard was right!