Clip of Susan Dey in Skyjacked

Here's a clip of Susan Dey in her first movie role, in the 1972 airplane hijacking film Skyjacked. In this scene, she gets up to use the restroom and bumps into a male friend on her way in. When she does enter the bathroom, she discovers that a terrorist has scrawled a message on the mirror. The airplane staff initially suspects her of some wrongdoing but shortly thereafter Elly Brewster (Susan Dey) has a chat with Captain O'Hara (Charlton Heston) to get things straightened out.

Susan Dey in Skyjacked

What was Susan Dey's first role outside of The Partridge Family? It was a small but key part in the 1972 film Skyjacked, an entry in the vast 'airplane disaster' movie category. Susan Dey portrayed Elly Brewster, a young passenger on an ill-fated flight who just happens to be the one who discovers a message scrawled on the bathroom mirror left by a hijacker. She's not in the film all that much but her featured performance is nonetheless memorable. She has a scene acting opposite the movie's star Charlton Heston and she has her own little sub-plot concerning her and young man. Susan Dey would not appear in another feature film until First Love in 1977.


Here are some promotional stills:

Here is a newspaper article concerning Susan Dey being cast in Skyjacked (as you can see, the film was originally titled "Airborne," and I've also seen it referred to as "Skyjack" before it was released):

Newburgh Evening News (January 22, 1972)

Here are some images of Susan Dey in Skyjacked: