Linda Manz, 'Days of Heaven' and 'Out of the Blue' Actress, Dead at 58

linda manz on set of Out of the Blue
Caterine Milinaire/Sygma via Getty Images

The actress died of lung cancer and pneumonia on Friday.

Linda Manz, the actress who starred in Days of Heaven and Out of the Blue, has died. She was 58.

On a GoFundMe page set up by her son, Michael Guthrie, the family shared that the actress died on Friday after battling lung cancer and pneumonia.

"Linda was a loving wife, a caring mom, a wonderful grandma and a great friend who was loved by many," Guthrie wrote on the page. "What ever you can do to help with the funeral will be greatly appreciated. Thank you and God bless. Rest in peace we love you MOM."

The 1978 film Days of Heaven was Manz's first movie role, which she took on at the age of 15. In addition to Out of the Blue, she starred in 1979's The Wanderers and 1981's Longshot. She mostly stopped acting after the '80s, though her last two credits came in 1997, in the films Gummo and The Game. She also took part in the 2016 documentary Along for the Ride.

Jean-Louis URLI/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

Manz did eventually open up about why she spent time away from Hollywood back. "There was a whole bunch of new young actors out there, and I was kind of getting lost in the shuffle,” she told Time Out New York in 1997, according to AnOther magazine. “So I laid back and had three kids. Now I enjoy just staying home and cooking soup.”

The actress wed camera operator Bobby Guthrie in 1985. They had three sons together, Michael, Christopher and William.

Famous fans, including Natasha Lyonne, Edgar Wright, Chloë Sevigny took to Twitter to mourn Manz's death. Lyonne shared a series of photos of Manz's acting roles and put up a poll asking which of the late actress' films were their favorite, admitting, "I love them all."

Sevigny took to Instagram, sharing a still of Manz in Days of Heaven. She captioned it with just the "🕯" emoji.

See more celebrity reactions, including Wright's, below.


Manz is survived by her husband, their two surviving sons and three grandchildren.

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