Photo of Swoosie Kurtz’s Eye Was Used in Artwork for a Jimi Hendrix Concert
Updated Jan. 7 2021, 11:48 a.m. ET
"As a woman, you really feel you have to apologize for it, and I just don't anymore," Swoosie Kurtz, the star of Call Me Kat, Mike & Molly, and the like described the pressure of having to justify being single during a previous appearance on the podcast, Off the Cuff.
As the Tony-Award-winning actress told the outlet, she feels more at ease discussing her marital status now than when she was younger. But what are the reasons behind her decision to never get married?
Swoosie Kurtz has had a few boyfriends, but not a husband.
Swoosie published her best-selling memoir, Part Swan, Part Goose, in 2014. In it, she opens up about her childhood years, first introductions to the world of theater, and familial and romantic relationships.
To promote the book, Swoosie also appeared on a 2015 episode of Off the Cuff, where she talked about where she finds inspiration, her approach to life, and past affairs.
The legendary actress has had a few public relationships, including her romance with visual artist Joshua White, whom she was dating between 1964 and 1970.
As she explained on the podcast, Joshua used to be an in-demand projectionist and a visionary graphic designer, who, at one point, created a photograph of her eyeball, which made it into the artwork Jimi Hendrix used for a concert at the Fillmore East.
"Joshua White is a real entrepreneur, real innovative artist. He did the Joshua Light Show, which is now iconic. It was very famous back in the 60s, somewhat in the 70s, for Bill Graham's Fillmore East. He would do two shows, he would do Friday and Saturday nights every week there, and I would be there with him just hanging out, and I'd be backstage, and, you know, 'Hi, Janis Joplin!' or 'Oh, there's Grace from Jefferson Airplane,'" Swoosie explained.
"I can say that I've been on stage with Jimi Hendrix. Josh is a great graphic artist, brilliant, and he took a picture of my eyeball, and he blew it up, and in all [of his] liquid projections behind Jimi Hendrix while he was performing live at the Fillmore was my eye," Swoosie added.
As Swoosie revealed, she didn't make it to Woodstock, however — as she was too busy touring with actress Betsy Palmer, with whom she appeared in a stage production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
She also dated Brent Spiner, her co-star on a Broadway adaptation of A History of the American Film, for a few months in 1978.
"I never had that marriage radar out very well," Swoosie remarked.
As Swoosie explained on Off the Cuff, her life started to make sense to her when she stumbled upon the world of theater. Romantic relationships stayed in the background for the most part. She decided against having a family early on as well.
"I never was interested in having children. I knew at age nine or 10 that I love children, but it's not something I wanted in my life," Swoosie said, before going on to add that "it doesn't make you an evil person ... choose your life! Katharine Hepburn didn't have children."
Catch new episodes of Call Me Kat every Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.
