Linda Manz Biography

Linda Manz was an American screen actress from New York known for her roles in the films Days of Heaven and Out of the Blue.

She grew up taking drama, dance and improv lessons, and when she was 15 she was cast as Richard Gere‘s little sister in the Terence Malick film Days of Heaven (1978).

The process of finishing that film became famous for Malick’s difficulty in editing it, and after two years he brought in Linda Manz to do narration.

A mature, “streetwise” kid, Manz rose to the occasion and ad-libbed while watching the movie. Critics heaped praise on her (and the film), and she was credited with saving the project.

Manz then played Pee Wee in the gang/nostalgia drama The Wanderers (1979), and was the Elvis-loving punk rock rebel at the center of Dennis Hopper‘s 1980 drama Out of the Blue.

After a few other appearances in film and TV, Manz settled outside of Los Angeles and raised a family.

She returned only occasionally to the screen, appearing in Gummo (1997) and The Game (1997, directed by David Fincher).