Wendie Jo Sperber

Wendie Jo Sperber (September 15, 1958 – November 29, 2005) was an American actress, known for her performances in the films I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978), Bachelor Party (1984), and Back to the Future (1985), as well as the television sitcoms Bosom Buddies (1980–1982) and Private Benjamin (1982–1983). Early life Sperber was born in Hollywood, California, to Burton Seymour Sperber and Charlene Marie ( Hirshon) Sperber, and had three siblings (Ellice, Michelle and Richard). Career Sperber began her screen career at age 19 when she was cast in the small role of Kuchinsky in Matthew Robbins' 1978 teen movie Corvette Summer, alongside Mark Hamill and Annie Potts. She next appeared in Robert Zemeckis' period comedy I Wanna Hold Your Hand, as Rosie Petrofsky. (Entertainment Weekly described Rosie as "a screaming Beatlemaniac who, among other things, climbed through elevator shafts"). She played the title role in the television movie Dinky Hocker, an ABC Afterschool Special which dealt with a teenager's attempts to hide her feelings by eating. Sperber's physical comedy is featured in Steven Spielberg's 1941. Zemeckis, who also worked on 1941, brought her back to the big screen in 1980 with a role in his comedy Used Cars, but it was on television that year that Sperber began to receive more serious attention.