Romy Walthall, Face/Off and X-Files Actress, Dies at 57

Romy Walthall, a character actress known for appearances in Face/Off and other notable titles, passed away. Variety first reported the news, after her son actor and director Morgan Krantz (In the Dark) confirmed it to the trade. Born in Pasadena, Texas in 1963, Walthall was just 57 at the time of her death which occurred earlier this month on May 19 in Los Angeles after what the outlet reports was “sudden cardiac arrest.” She is survived by her mother, sister and three children who held a memorial in her honor last week. Our thoughts are with her family, friends, and loves ones during this time.

Walthall, who sometimes worked under the stage name Romy Windsor, she got her big break the 1984 thriller Thief of Hearts, an early producer credit of one Jerry Bruckheimer. She would go on to make appearances in multiple horror/cult cinema features including roles in both Howling IV: The Original Nightmare and Howling: New Moon Rising, plus a version of The House of Usher that also starred Oliver Reed and Donald Pleasence. Watlhall would also appear in the 1997 fan-favorite, Face/Off. In the film she played the part of Kimberly, the secretary to John Travolta’s Sean Archer.

In addition to appearances on the big screen, Walthall had multiple starring TV roles including starring opposite Jennifer Lopez in the short-lived Hotel Malibu, plus recurring parts in Murder One, Civil Wars, and Man of the People. She would also appear in shows like The X-Files, Quantum Leap, The Nightmare Room, L.A. Law, Love Boat: The Next Wave, Charles in Charge, and 8 Simple Rules.

Her family have paid tribute to her online in the time since it was announced that Walthall had passed with daughter Isabella Israel writing on Instagram: “I’ve resigned myself to the fact that there will never be any appropriate combination of earthly words to accurately describe my mother. You just had to be there to get it. She was everything at once. She was my first love. My best friend at times and my sworn adversary at others. She was the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen and she was wicked and fun and light and dark and she possessed the kind of magic that you truly just don’t see.”

We wish nothing but comfort during this time for Walthall’s family. May she rest in peace.

(Cover Photo by CBS via Getty Images)