Romy Walthall, ‘Face/Off’ Actress, Dead at 57

Romy Walthall, an actor known for her performances in Face/Off and The House of Usher died May 19 in Los Angeles at the age of 57 after going into sudden cardiac arrest, her son, director and actor Morgan Krantz, told Variety Monday. Walthall got her first big break in Jerry Bruckheimer’s 1984 thriller Thief of Hearts but previously modeled across the world with Ford Models after winning the Mother/Daughter USA pageant in 1980.

The Pasadena, Texas native, who sometimes went by her stage name, Romy Windsor, would go on to star in 1985’s A Bunny’s Tale, 1988’s Howling IV: The Original Nightmare and The House of Usher in 1989. In 1997, she appeared in Face/Off, playing Kimberly, the secretary of John Travolta’s character Sean Archer. Walthall also appeared in a number of television shows, including the 1991 sitcom Man of the People with James Garner, the 1994 show Hotel Malibu with Jennifer Lopez, and the legal dramas Civil Wars and Murder One. She also made appearances on The X-Files, Charles in Charge, Quantum Leap, L.A. Law and many other shows, including as a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1991.

Variety reports that after her final acting role in the 2011 film 0s & 1s, she retired to become an acting teacher in the San Fernando Valley. Walthall is survived by her mother, sister and three children Morgan, Isabella and Theodore. A celebration of her life was held last week in Malibu, and her children paid tribute to her on social media with touching messages,

Daughter Isabella Israel wrote alongside a collection of photos of her mother over the years, “I’ve resigned myself to the fact that there will never be any appropriate combination of earthly words to accurately describe my mother. You just had to be there to get it. She was everything at once. She was my first love. She was the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen and she was wicked and fun and light and dark and she possessed the kind of magic that you truly just don’t see,” she wrote, adding, “If I had it to do all over again I’d choose you every time. I will always always always love you ferociously.”

Walthall’s son, Theodore Dudley, added in his own tribute, “Rest easy mama. You deserve to be at peace. The love and wisdom you gave me will never expire. You will always be an inspiration to me. You taught me to never give up. You taught me to not take no for an answer. You taught me to be true to myself. You always rooted for me, because you knew I can do anything. You instilled in me my warrior spirit. Despite not being in touch this past year, I’ve always felt you around. Thank you for bringing me onto earth. Love you. Rest in peace. I’ll see you in the stars.”