Veronica was born in Bristol, England, and emigrated to the United States as a young girl with her parents and sister, Angela. She began her career modeling and became the “Kellogg’s Girl” doing commercials for Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, Sugar Smacks and Rice Krispies.
At the age of 9 Veronica appeared in In Love and War, playing Robert Wagner’s sister, following that as a semi-regular on the CBS series, Leave It to Beaver, as Violet Rutherford, famed for giving Beaver his first kiss. Other shows followed such as The Eleventh Hour, Alfred Hitchcock Presents and a classic episode of The Twilight Zone, “I Sing the Body Electric.” There were many guest appearances on various shows and she played Jemima Boone on Daniel Boone from 1964 to 1966.
Her film career began in the classic films The Children’s Hour, directed by William Wyler, Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, and Spencer’s Mountain. She transitioned into adult roles in films such as Inserts, with Richard Dreyfuss, and Goin’ South, the first of three films with Jack Nicholson. Veronica appeared in two sci-fi classics, Philip Kaufman’s remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) and Ridley Scott’s masterpiece thriller, Alien (1979).
Veronica, who has appeared in more than 50 movies, starred as Betty Grissom in the epic dramatization of Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff, also directed by Kaufman, and made an indelible impression in 1987’s The Witches of Eastwick.
Veronica has appeared in over 100 TV movies and series, including The Rat Pack, The Lottery, My Brothers Keeper, Dead in the Water, and RFK: His Life and Times, playing Ethel Kennedy. She also had a memorable recurring role as zealous prosecutor Margaret Flanagan on L.A. Law, and guested on Criminal Minds, CSI: Cyber, Bosch, Resurrection, Grey’s Anatomy, and Will & Grace.
At 15 she won an Emmy for Best Actress in the TV movie for Tell Me Not in Mournful Numbers. She was nominated in 1997 for her guest role on two widely acclaimed episodes of ER. In 1998 and 1999 she was nominated for her pivotal role as Cassandra Spender on The X Files.
Her numerous theater credits include Electra, Tally’s Folly, The Bat and The Master Builder, for which she received brilliant reviews. Her performances in The Hands of Its Enemy, The Triplet Collection and Homesteaders earned DramaLogue Awards for Best Actress.
Currently, Veronica can be seen in Netflix’s Man on the Inside, with Ted Danson, and in the lead role of the new film The Ruse (2025). She also appears on TV’s The Good Doctor, The Resident and Gotham Knights.
Veronica Cartwright will appear with ‘Alien’ at 7 pm Friday, July 25 and ‘The Birds’ at 3:30 pm Saturday, July 26 in the Plaza Theatre.
