Alexa Kenin

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Alexa Jordan Kenin (born February 16, 1962 in New York , New York , † September 10, 1985 there ) was an American actress .

Life

Alexa Kenin was born in New York in 1962 as the daughter of doctor Michael Kenin and actress Maya Kenin. Inspired by a performance of The Nutcracker , she had the desire to work as an actress at the age of three. Kenin first approached a talent agency in her hometown at the age of seven, but continued to attend school at her mother's request. It wasn't until three years later, at the age of ten, that she made her debut on American television with the supporting role of Carla Mae in Paul Bogart's family film The House Without a Christmas Tree , in which she worked alongside Oscar- winner Jason Robards andMildred Natwick acted. In 1977 the 15-year-old made her theatrical debut at the New York Public Theater in the staging of John Guares Landscape of the Body alongside Shirley Knight and F. Murray Abraham . From the late 1970s, Kenin was regularly represented with roles on American television. In 1979 she received the lead female role in the short-lived Channel 9 series Co-ed Fever . In the story of a girls' college that accepts male students for the first time in 150 years of existence, she was seen as Mousie the wallflower.

In 1980 Alexa Kenin made her movie debut as the friend of Kristy McNichol in Ronald F. Maxwell's youthful film Little Beasts , which is about the sexual awakening of 15-year-old girls at a US holiday camp. Kenin gained a lot of weight while filming in Madison , Georgia . After completing the film, for which she received an honorable mention from the Washington Post together with the other supporting actresses Krista Errickson , Cynthia Nixon , Simone Schachter and Jenn Thompson , she reduced her weight by 10 kilograms for career reasons and celebrated a little later with Neil Simon's play I Ought To Be In Pictures (1981) her breakthrough as a stage actress. Directed by Herbert Ross , 19-year-old Kenin slipped into the role of young New York actress Libby Tucker, who is looking for happiness in Hollywood and her father (played by Bill Macy ) at the Royal Alex at the beginning of February and at the National Theater from mid-May. re-meets, an unsuccessful screenwriter who left the family years ago. The Washington Post praised Libby's role as one of the most engaging in Simon's work and Kenin for her “funny, lively but really touching performance”, while the Canadian Globe and Mail recognized the potential of I Ought To Be In Pictures three months earlier and, in view of the inconspicuousness of the character, spoke of the fact that no other actress had ever made such a virtue of necessity not to look beautiful, as Kenin did.

After the success of I Ought To Be In Pictures , Alexa Kenin played the granddaughter of the ailing and senile eponymous heroine Bette Davis in the 1982 CBS television film A Piano for Mrs. Cimino , who is fighting for control of her life and property after being incapacitated . In the same year, critics praised her work in Clint Eastwood's Honkytonk Man , in which she can be seen in a supporting supporting role as a young provincial waitress with little musical knowledge who dreams of a career as a country singer. Eastwood, who also played the title role in the road movie alongside his son Kyle, had entrusted the young actress, who was studying philosophy at Columbia University at the time , with the role of Marlene without any audition.

For Alexa Kenin, Honkytonk Man was followed by other supporting roles in the television film Princess Daisy (1983) and in 1984 in the comedy Simply Affig with Karen Allen , Armand Assante and Holly Hunter . In May 1985, the actress co-starred with Amanda Plummer as two fun-seeking, suntanned college graduates in the production of Richard Greenberg's Life Under Water , staged at the Ensemble Studio Theater's Marathon '85 one-act theater festival in New York . Four months later, shortly after filming the comedy film Pretty in Pink with Molly Ringwald and Harry Dean Stanton , Kenin was found dead in her Manhattan apartment. According to official reports, the 23-year-old actress died of complications from an asthma illness. A year after her death, Pretty in Pink , her last film, dedicated to her memory, opened in cinemas; the screwball comedy Einfach Affig , on the other hand, did not hit US cinemas until 1989.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1972: The House Without a Christmas Tree (TV)
  • 1978: The Word (TV series)
  • 1979: Co-ed Fever (TV series)
  • 1980: Small beasts ( Little Darlings )
  • 1980: A Perfect Match (TV)
  • 1981: The Unknown Witness ( Word of Honor , TV)
  • 1982: A Piano for Mrs. Cimino ( A Piano for Mrs. Cimino , TV)
  • 1982: Honkytonk Man
  • 1983: Princess Daisy (TV)
  • 1986: Pretty in Pink
  • 1989: Just monkey ( Animal Behavior )

Plays

  • 1977: Landscape of the Body
  • 1977-1978: The Elusive Angel
  • 1981: I Ought To Be In Pictures
  • 1985: Life Under Water

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ a b c cf. Chase, Chris: At The Movies: on Clint Eastwood . In: The New York Times, Jan. 7, 1983, Section C, p. 8, Column 1, Weekend Desk.
  2. ↑ cf. Kroll, Jack: Cracked Mirror . In: Newsweek, October 24, 1977, Section: The Arts, Theater, p. 86.
  3. ↑ cf. Conlogue, Ray: Co-Ed Fever scarcfely infectious . In: The Globe and Mail (Canada), February 16, 1979.
  4. ↑ cf. Lardner, James: Screen Play: Simon's Feisty Screen Play 'I Ought To Be In Pictures' . In: The Washington Post, May 13, 1981, Style, B1.
  5. ↑ cf. Conlogue, Ray: Simon play settles for the sentimental . In: The Globe and Mail, Canada, February 4, 1981.
  6. ↑ cf. Maslin, Janet: Eastwood's Honkytonk Man . In: The New York Times, Dec 15, 1982, Section C, Column 4, Cultural Desk, p. 29.
  7. ↑ cf. Kempley, Rita: A Six-Pack of New Movies: 'Honkytonk Man' Belongs in Can . In: The Washington Post, December 17, 1982, Weekend, Weekend At The Movies, p. 20.
  8. ↑ cf. Arnold, Gary: Off-Key Honkytonk . In: The Washington Post, December 18, 1982, Style, Movies, C4.
  9. ↑ cf. Rich, Frank: Stage: One-Act plays, 'Marathon' 85 ' . In: The New York Times, May 16, 1985, Section C, p. 23, Column 4, Cultural Desk.
  10. ↑ cf. Alexa Kenin . In: The New York Times, September 12, 1985, Section B, p. 12, Column 3, Cultural Desk.
  11. ↑ cf. Profile at findagrave.com (accessed November 19, 2019).
personal data
SURNAME Kenin, Alexa
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kenin, Alexa Jordan (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-american actress
DATE OF BIRTH February 16, 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH New York , New York
DATE OF DEATH September 10, 1985
Place of death New York , New York