Cast
- Ruth Gordon as Dame Marjorie "Maude" Chardin, a 79-year-old free spirit who wears her hair in braids across her head like laurels. Maude believes in living each day to its fullest, and "trying something new every day." Her view of life is so joyful that, true to the film's motif, it crosses a blurred, shifting line into a carefree attitude toward death as well. We know little of her past, except that as a young woman she lived in Vienna, was once married, and has a Nazi concentration camp tattoo on one arm.
- Bud Cort as Harold Chasen, a young man in his 20s who is obsessed with death. He drives a hearse, attends funerals of strangers, and stages elaborate suicides. Through meeting and falling in love with Maude, he discovers joy in living for the first time.
- Vivian Pickles as Mrs. Chasen, Harold’s opulently wealthy mother, is controlling, snooty, and seemingly incapable of affection. Hoping to force him into respectability, Mrs. Chasen replaces Harold's beloved hearse with a Jaguar (which he then converts to a miniature hearse), and sets up several blind dates, or more accurately, "bride interviews" with young women. It is clear that she, not Harold, will make the final choice.
- Cyril Cusack as Glaucus, the sculptor who makes the ice statue of Maude and lends them his tools to transport a tree.
- Charles Tyner as General Victor Ball, Harold's uncle who lost an arm in the war and now pulls a hidden cord to make his wire prosthetic "salute." On Mrs. Chasen's orders, he attempts to prepare Harold to join the armed forces. The effort is thwarted by a stunt in which Harold appears to kill Maude.
- Ellen Geer as Sunshine Doré, an actress. On Harold’s third blind date, she mimics his suicide, giving a histrionic rendition of Juliet's death scene.
- Eric Christmas as Priest
- G. Wood as Psychiatrist
- Judy Engles as Candy Gulf, Harold's first blind date, whom he scares off by setting himself on fire.
- Shari Summers as Edith Phern, Harold's second blind date, whom he dissuades by pretending to cut off his hand.
- Tom Skerritt (credited as "M. Borman") as Motorcycle Officer
- Director Hal Ashby appears in an uncredited cameo, watching a model train at an amusement park. The amusement park is Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (California USA) / Penny Arcade.
Read more about this topic: Harold And Maude
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