Lorna Thayer

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Lorna Thayer (10 March 1919 - June 4, 2005) was an American character actress, most notably remembered for her role as the roadside cafe waitress in the 1970 movie Five Easy Pieces. The scene has come to be known as the "chicken salad scene."

[edit] Biography

Thayer was born in Boston in 1919, the daughter of actress Louise Gibney. She appeared often in theatre and on television. She played minor roles in the films The Lusty Men, Texas City and Frankie and Johnny.

However, it is for her role in Five Easy Pieces as a waitress who refuses to allow Jack Nicholson's character Bobby Dupea to order a side order of wheat toast that she will be remembered for. Thayer based her portrayal on some of the actresses she had encountered while travelling as part of theater productions.

Thayer died at the Motion Picture and Television Fund Retirement Home in Woodland Hills, California in June 2005 after battling Alzheimer's disease for five years.