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Susan Tyrrell (born Susan Jillian Creamer; March 18, 1945, San Francisco, California; died June 16, 2012, Austin, Texas) was an American stage and screen actress best known for her Academy Award-nominated performance in John Huston's Fat City (1972) and her work in cult films including Andy Warhol's Bad and Cry-Baby.1 She voiced the ghost Achira in the Extreme Ghostbusters two-part episode "Darkness at Noon."2
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Tyrrell was born Susan Jillian Creamer in San Francisco. Her mother, Gillian Tyrrell, was a British socialite and diplomat who had been stationed in China and the Philippines during the 1930s and 1940s. Her father, John Belding Creamer, was a talent agent at the William Morris Agency who represented major Hollywood clients.1 Tyrrell grew up in New Canaan, Connecticut and became estranged from her mother during her teenage years.1
Her father's industry connections led to an early break: at around age 18, she was cast in the 1963 Broadway production of Time Out for Ginger alongside Art Carney. Look magazine featured her during the show's tour, marking her first significant public notice.1
Tyrrell built her craft on stage in New York City throughout the 1960s. She made her Broadway debut as a replacement performer in Cactus Flower (1965) and became a member of the Lincoln Center Repertory Company, appearing in King Lear (1968), The Time of Your Life (1969), and Camino Real (1970).1 Off-Broadway, she appeared in the premiere of Lanford Wilson's The Rimers of Eldritch (1967).1
Her film debut came in Shoot Out (1971).1 The following year she gave the performance that defined her screen reputation: the hard-drinking Oma Lee Greer opposite Stacy Keach in John Huston's boxing drama Fat City (1972), which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.1 The New York Times later described her as "a whiskey-voiced character actress" with a talent for "playing the downtrodden, outré, and grotesque."3
She followed that with a string of provocative and unconventional projects. Andy Warhol's Bad (1977) won her the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress the following year.1 Richard Elfman cast her as Queen Doris of the Sixth Dimension in the cult musical Forbidden Zone (1980), a role that cemented her status among devotees of outsider cinema.1 Other notable film work included Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981) and John Waters's Cry-Baby (1990), in which she played the villainous Mrs. Hackett alongside Johnny Depp, Ricki Lake, and Iggy Pop.1
Her final screen role was in the 2012 independent film Kid-Thing.4
On television, Tyrrell appeared in guest roles across several decades, including episodes of Bonanza, Baretta, Starsky and Hutch, Kojak, and Tales from the Crypt.5 She had a recurring role in the short-lived NBC sitcom Open All Night (1981-1982).1 Her voice acting career brought her to animation, including the Extreme Ghostbusters episode discussed below.
Tyrrell provided the guest voice of Achira, an ancient spider goddess, in the two-part Extreme Ghostbusters episode "Darkness at Noon."2 The character was the primary antagonist of that story.
After her theater years, Tyrrell moved in New York's artistic underground, becoming acquainted with Andy Warhol's circle. She had a two-year relationship with actor Hervé Villechaize in the mid-1970s.1 She was twice briefly married and had no children.1
In 2000, she was diagnosed with essential thrombocytosis, a blood disorder that necessitated bilateral below-the-knee amputations.1 Johnny Depp organized a benefit concert at the Viper Room in Los Angeles to help cover her medical costs; attendees included Megan Mullally, Jack Black, and Chloe Webb.1 She continued working after the amputations.
She relocated to Austin, Texas in 2008.1
Susan Tyrrell died in her sleep on June 16, 2012, in Austin, Texas.6 She was 67. The essential thrombocytosis that had taken her legs in 2000 ultimately claimed her life.1 Her final journal entry read: "I demand my death be joyful and I never return again."1 She was cremated and her ashes scattered. Her mother, Gillian Tyrrell, had died earlier the same year.1
Some content on this page was researched using the Ghostbusters Wiki on Fandom.
"Susan Tyrrell," Wikipedia, accessed 2026-06-13, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Tyrrell ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18 ↩19 ↩20
Paul Rudoff, "13 Days of Tales From The Crypt: Susan Tyrrell in 'Comes The Dawn'," Spook Central (October 24, 2025), https://www.spookcentral.tk/2025/10/24/13-days-of-tales-from-the-crypt-susan-tyrrell-comes-the-dawn/. Identifies Tyrrell as voicing Achira in Extreme Ghostbusters: "Darkness at Noon". ↩ ↩2
D.E. Slotnik, "Susan Tyrrell, Oscar Nominee, Dies at 67," New York Times (June 21, 2012). The obituary describes her as "a whiskey-voiced character actress" with talent for "playing the downtrodden, outré, and grotesque." ↩
"Susan Tyrrell," IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0879073/, accessed 2026-06-13. ↩
Television Academy, "Susan Tyrrell, Actress Known for Gritty, Challenging Roles," https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/susan-tyrrell-actress-known-gritty-challenging-roles, accessed 2026-06-13. ↩
"Susan Tyrrell, Oscar Nominee, 67," Philadelphia Inquirer (June 20, 2012), https://www.inquirer.com/philly/obituaries/20120620_Susan_Tyrrell___Oscar_nominee__67.html ↩