Promising American actress (1953–1979) best known for her role as the Girl in the 1971 cult classic Two-Lane Blacktop. Made on a minuscule budget by director Monte Hellman and starring singers James Taylor and Dennis Wilson, the film’s screenplay so impressed the editors of Esquire that the magazine took the highly unusual step of publishing it in its entirety, before the film was even screened, in an issue which featured a hitchhiking Bird on the cover. Though not a commercial success at the time, Two-Lane Blacktop came to be recognized as a definitive road-trip classic and an evocative “time capsule” of Route 66, and was later cited as an important influence by such directors as Quentin Tarantino and Richard Linklater. Bird appeared in only two more films (including a small role in Annie Hall) before she died of a heroin overdose at the age of 25. Very scarce in-person ink signature, “To Ken, Laurie Bird,” adding a small heart, on an off-white 5 x 3 card. In very fine condition. All autograph material from Bird is extremely elusive. R&R COA.
