Helen Slater

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Helen Slater at Magic City Comic Con, January 2016

Helen Rachel Slater (born December 15, 1963 in Bethpage , New York ) is an American actress and singer-songwriter .

She celebrated her breakthrough as a film actress in 1984 with the lead role in the science fiction film Supergirl . In the following years she starred in other film dramas and comedies such as Time of Retribution , The Incredible Abduction of Mad Mrs. Stone , The Secret of My Success and City Slickers - The Big City Heroes . She later worked mostly in television films and also had guest appearances in numerous American television series. In addition, she has been pursuing musical interests as a piano player and singer since she was a teenager. Between 2003 and 2015 she released five albums with her own compositions.

origin

Helen Slater was born in Mid-Island Hospital in Bethpage, Nassau County , Long Island, the younger of two children, and grew up in the neighboring village of Massapequa . The father Gerald Slater worked in the 1960s at the television station CBS in management positions and was a founding member of the public broadcasting service chain . The grandfather came from a Jewish family from Poland, when he immigrated to Ellis Island , he changed his maiden name from Schlacter to Slater . The mother Alice Joan Slater (née Citrin) worked as a lawyer for various peace organizations and was, among other things, a representative of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF) in New York City . The parents were married from 1957 to 1974. Helen Slater and her mother lived in Great Neck for a while and later moved to Manhattan . Her older brother, David M. Slater, is a lawyer in New York City.

Career

Movie and TV

After attending Great Neck South High School in Lake Success , Helen Slater studied dramatic acting at the New York High School of Performing Arts , best known for the dance film Fame - The Road to Fame , shot around the same time . As part of her training, she was involved in the musical project The Bus & Truck Company , which ran through the boroughs of Bronx and Harlem . She also played Helena in The Trojans and attended a seminar by the Shakespeare & Company theater group in Lenox . Half a year after graduating from acting school, she had her first television appearance alongside James Earl Jones , Meg Ryan and Matthew Modine in the episode Amy & the Angel of the youth series Junge Schicksale (ABC Afterschool Specials) . The 45-minute episode, broadcast in September 1982, is about high school student Amy Watson, a depressed outsider who questions the meaning of life. A guardian angel shows her the importance of her existence for other people around her. The partly fictional story shows parallels to the tragic comedy Isn't life beautiful? with James Stewart .

As a film actress, Slater made her debut in 1984, starring alongside Peter O'Toole and Faye Dunaway in the comic book adaptation of Supergirl . Several hundred young actresses were interested in the role of the title character, who, at the instigation of the filmmakers, was to be cast with an unknown person. Casting director Lynn Stalmaster, who had cast Christopher Reeve as Superman a few years earlier , sent Slater as the first of eight selected candidates to audition in a New York City hotel. After further application dates and test shoots, she was hired by director Jeannot Szwarc in November 1982 . For the physically demanding filming, she had to complete a week-long preparation program with stunt trainer Alf Joint and put on weight. During the production in the British Pinewood Studios , which lasted about a year , she lived in England. Slater was nominated for the Saturn Award for best actress a year later , but lost to Daryl Hannah for portraying the mermaid Madison in the comedy Splash .

"I'd done the" Linda Lee "part and then all of a sudden it was time to do the" Supergirl "thing. So I said, well, give me a second. I went out into the aisle and I started changing and I caught myself in the mirror. And there I was in this leotard and this old Danskin skirt, you know, and I'm thinking, Jesus, I look like a jackass. I say there's no way I can go in there now. "

"I had just finished the 'Linda-Lee' part and was suddenly supposed to be doing the 'Supergirl' thing. I said alright give me a sec I went out into the corridor, changed my clothes, and found myself in the mirror. There I stood in this leotard and this old ballet skirt and thought, my God, I look like a complete idiot. I will never go in there again in my life. "

- Helen Slater on her appearance in a self-made Supergirl costume at the casting in New York City

In 1984 she took on the leading role as Billie Jean Davy in the drama Time of Retribution . In it, she played a young person who, as a result of unfortunate circumstances, went on the run through Texas together with her brother - played by Christian Slater in his first film role - and who involuntarily rose to become a local media star in the fight for justice. In the second part of the plot she changed her appearance as a sign of rebellion against the adult world and based her short haircut on the model of the French national heroine Joan of Arc . Slater's first works were both unsuccessful commercially and also failed by critics. In retrospect, as typical works of the 1980s, they enjoy a certain cult status among film fans , not least because of their poor availability .

With her next film projects, Slater broke her image as a heroine and switched to the comedic subject. In The Incredible Abduction of Mad Mrs. Stone , she played the naive Sandy Kessler, who plans to blackmail her husband out of financial difficulties. After the kidnapping of the wealthy Barbara Stone, however, the story takes an unexpected turn. Danny DeVito and Bette Midler played the leading roles in the film, which was praised as a pastiche of everyday American life . The secret of my success followed in 1987 , in which Slater acts as a financial expert Christy Wills in a triangular relationship with the CEO and film partner Michael J. Fox .

“At first I wanted her to appear more military-like, wearing more blue and the like, but then Herb told me to have her display more female qualities, which turned out to be right because we could then see she was more apt to being both an executive and a woman. "

“At first I wanted to give her a military appearance, with blue clothes and the like, but then Herb said she should show more feminine traits, which turned out to be right because we could then see how she behaves skillfully as a manager and a woman at the same time . "

- Helen Slater on the character of Christy Wills in The Secret of My Success

She then took part in other films, including Sticky Fingers with Melanie Mayron and City Slickers - Die Großstadt-Helden with Billy Crystal . The western-style comedy film about three men in a midlife crisis achieved gross profits of around 124 million US dollars in the United States, making it the greatest commercial success of Slater's career as a film actress. In the early 1990s, Slater expanded her acting activities to include television films and series, starring alongside Lloyd Bridges in several episodes of the Capital News series and in the science fiction film 12:01 . The remake of the Oscar-nominated short film of the same name, starring Jonathan Silverman and Martin Landau in other leading roles, took up the time loop theme with which the comedy And Groundhog Day, also released in 1993, was already successful at the box office. Similar to six years earlier in The Secret of My Success , Slater embodied a young career woman in an elevated position, who at first appears aloof and later succumbs to the protagonist's charm. In addition, she participated in low-budget productions , some of which were only released on the home theater market despite their feature film character .

In 1992 she had a short appearance in the sitcom Seinfeld and since 1997 regular guest roles in various television series such as Caroline in the City , Will & Grace , Boston Public , Grey's Anatomy , Crossing Jordan - pathologist with profile , Supernatural , Eleventh Hour - last second , Greek , CSI: NY , Private Practice and Drop Dead Diva . In 2007 and 2010, she also played in three episodes of the fantasy series Smallville, the birth mother Lara of Clark Kent, the bourgeois cover identity of Superman . She also contributed to the 50th edition of DC Comics' reissued Supergirl series , published in February 2010 . From August 2011 to March 2012 she cast the role of mother of two Kristin Mercer in the first season of the 20-part drama series The Lying Game . The second season with ten episodes aired in the first quarter of 2013.

Theater and music

Together with her friend Gina Gershon , Slater co-founded the New York theater group Naked Angels . As a member of the Actors Movement Studio , she supported the training of young actors. She was also involved in founding the two improvisational theater groups The Bubalaires and Otis Inspired in Los Angeles . In the mid-1980s she appeared in two off-Broadway productions: 1985 in Responsible Parties at the Vineyard Theater in Manhattan with Larry Block and in 1987 in Almost Romance at the Manhattan Punch Line Theater alongside Fisher Stevens . 1990 followed an engagement for the play The Big Day at the Pasadena Playhouse in the Californian city of the same name .

Even during her training at the High School of Performing Arts, Slater worked as a songwriter and singer. She has been playing the piano since childhood and has given several concerts in the Los Angeles area. She has also written two musicals, including The Ugly Duckling (released on CD in 2015), based on the fairy tale The Ugly Duckling by the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen . For the song Detour in the feature film Schutzlos in der Dunkel she contributed text and music. In 2003 her first solo CD One of These Days was released , which was followed by two more albums Crossword and Shine in 2005 and 2010 . The self-written and sung songs, mostly accompanied on the piano, combine folk , jazz and soul elements in an easy-listening style. In September 2013, the children's educational album Myths of Ancient Greece with narrative elements was released.

Personal

Helen Slater has been married to director, actor and screenwriter Robert Watzke since September 1989 and is the mother of a daughter who was born on August 28, 1995.

For her first feature film role in Supergirl , Slater had to bleach her brown hair. In the following years she kept the artificial hair color for many other film appearances and only changed it after she was signed as a spokeswoman for a cosmetics manufacturer as part of a marketing campaign in 1995 . In the television production Amy & the Angel , she can still be seen with her natural hair color. She had her first public appearance in 1980 in a commercial for a grain product. She was also a promoter for a coffee brand and a sporting goods company.

There is no relationship to actor Christian Slater. The rumor arose as a result of the joint film project Time of Retribution , in which both played a sibling couple.

Filmography (selection)

Feature films

Television films and series

  • 1982: Junge Schicksale (ABC Afterschool Specials) (TV series, episode 11x01 Amy & the Angel )
  • 1990: The Great Air Race (TV movie)
  • 1990: Capital News (TV series)
  • 1993: 12:01 (TV movie)
  • 1993: Chantilly Lace (TV movie)
  • 1994: Fatal Class Reunion ( Parallel Lives , TV movie)
  • 1997: The Tooth Fairy ( Toothless , TV movie)
  • 2006: Jane Doe: The Harder They Fall (TV movie)
  • 2007, 2010: Smallville (TV series, 3 episodes)
  • 2011: Rock the House (TV movie)
  • 2011: Private Practice (TV series, episode 4x15 Two Steps Back )
  • 2011–2013: The Lying Game (TV series)
  • 2013: The Good Mother (TV movie)
  • 2014: Shadow of Passion ( The Young and the Restless , TV series, 4 episodes)
  • since 2015: Supergirl (TV series)

Albums

  • 2003: One of These Days
  • 2005: Crossword
  • 2010: Shine
  • 2013: Myths of Ancient Greece
  • 2015: The Ugly Duckling

Web links

Commons : Helen Slater  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ NAPF Speakers Bureau. Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, accessed August 8, 2014 .
  2. ↑ Helen Slater - Extras, Special Projects - Improv Tonite (1988) , accessed on August 23, 2011 (English)
  3. ↑ Helen Slater - Extras, Talk Shows & Interviews - The Arsenio Hall Show (1991), Part II , accessed on August 23, 2011 (English)
  4. ↑ Helen Slater - Documentaries - Creativity with Bill Moyers (1982), Part II , accessed on August 23, 2011 (English)
  5. ↑ Helen Slater - Extras, Talk Shows & Interviews - Nightlife with David Brenner (1987) , accessed on August 23, 2011 (English)
  6. ↑ a b Helen Slater - Extras, Documentaries - Making of "Supergirl", Part I , accessed on August 15, 2011 (English)
  7. ↑ a b c Simon Brew: Helen Slater Interview: Supergirl, Smallville, Ruthless People, Making Music and More. Den of Geek, accessed August 23, 2011 .
  8. ↑ Helen Slater - Extras, Documentaries - Making of "Supergirl", Part II , accessed on August 15, 2011 (English)
  9. ↑ a b Helen Slater Is Still "Super". Comic Book Resources, December 7, 2009, accessed August 28, 2011 .
  10. ↑ Helen Slater - Extras, Talk Shows & Interviews - Later with Greg Kinnear (1994), Part II , accessed on August 23, 2011 (English)
  11. ↑ The American textile company Danskin, founded in 1882, manufactures dance and ballet clothing, among other things.
  12. ↑ a b Biography for Helen Slater - Personal Quotes. IMDb.com, accessed August 18, 2011 .
  13. ↑ Janet Maslin : The Screen: Helen Slater as 'Supergirl' . In: The New York Times , November 22, 1984, accessed August 7, 2011.
  14. ↑ Jay Boyar: "Billy Jean" Is A Pretty Good B-plus . In: Orlando Sentinel , July 25, 1985, accessed August 15, 2011.
  15. ↑ Supergirl Behind the Scenes. Fast-Rewind.com, accessed August 28, 2011 .
  16. ↑ The Legend of Billie Jean was released on November 1, 2011 for the US market in NTSC format on DVD.
  17. ^ Reviews & Ratings for Supergirl. IMDb.com, accessed August 15, 2011 .
  18. ^ Reviews & Ratings for Time of Retribution. IMDb.com, accessed August 15, 2011 .
  19. ↑ Herbert Ross directed this film.
  20. ↑ Helen Slater Biography (1963–). Advameg, accessed August 17, 2011 .
  21. ^ Mel Gussow: The Stage: One-Acts at Punch-Line . In: The New York Times , January 15, 1987, accessed August 17, 2011.
  22. ↑ Janice Arkatov: A 'Big Day' for Slater . In: Los Angeles Times , April 14, 1990, accessed August 7, 2011.
  23. ↑ Helen Slater - Extras, Documentaries - A Friend for Life with Dudley Moore (1991) , accessed on August 23, 2011.
  24. ↑ Helen Slater - Extras, Special Projects - The Ugly Duckling , accessed on August 23, 2011 (English)
  25. ↑ Soundtracks for Nowhere in Sight. IMDb.com, accessed August 28, 2011 .
  26. ↑ a b c Biography for Helen Slater - Trivia. IMDb.com, accessed August 7, 2011 .
  27. ^ Thomas Riggs: Encyclopedia of Major Marketing Campaigns. Gale Group, Detroit 2000, ISBN 978-0-7876-3042-3 , p. 403.
  28. ↑ Helen Slater - Extras, Talk Shows & Interviews - Later with Greg Kinnear (1994), Part I , accessed on August 23, 2011 (English)
  29. ↑ Helen Slater - Extras, Commercials , accessed on August 23, 2011 (English)
personal data
SURNAME Slater, Helen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Slater, Helen Rachel (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actress and singer-songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH December 15, 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Bethpage , New York