Lorna Thayer Biography

This page uses content from the Lorna Thayer biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.

Lorna Thayer (10 March, 1919 - June 4, 2005) was an American character actress, most notably remembered for her role as the roadside cafe waitress in the 1970 movie Five Easy Pieces. The scene has come to be known as the "chicken salad scene."

Thayer was born in Boston in 1919, the daughter of actress Louise Gibney. She appeared often in theatre and on television. She played minor roles in the films The Lusty Men, Texas City and Frankie and Johnny.

However, it is for her role in Five Easy Pieces as a waitress who refuses to allow Jack Nicholson's character Bobby Dupea to order a side order of wheat toast that she will be remembered for. Thayer based her portrayal on some of the actresses she had encountered while travelling as part of theater productions.

Thayer died at the Motion Picture and Television Fund Retirement Home in Woodland Hills, California in June 2005 after battling Alzheimer's disease for five years.

External references

• Lorna Thayer Internet Movie Database article
  

• Los Angeles Times obituary reprinted in the Seattle Times
  

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify the biographical information on this page under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.

• 1. Robert Eroica Dupea: Now all you have to do is hold the chicken, bring me the toast, give me a check for the chicken salad sandwich, and you haven't broken any rules.
  2. Waitress: You want me to hold the chicken, huh?
  3. Robert Eroica Dupea: I want you to hold it between your knees.
  From Five Easy Pieces. Submitted by Chris P (13 months ago)