# Lisa Pelikan

Lisa Pelikan (born July 12, 1954) is an American stage, film, and television actress. Born in Berkeley, California, Pelikan studied drama at the Juilliard School on a full scholarship. She subsequently made her Broadway debut in a 1977 production of Romeo and Juliet. The same year, she appeared as the younger version of Vanessa Redgrave's title character in the film Julia. She subsequently starred in the horror film Jennifer (1978). Her other film credits include Ghoulies (1985) and Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991).

## Life and career
### Early life

Pelikan was born July 12, 1954 in Berkeley, California, the daughter of Helen L., a psychologist, and Robert G. Pelikan, an international economist who served as the minister-counselor from the United States at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris. She is of Czech descent. At age six, Pelikan was diagnosed with a bone tumor in her leg, which was treated with surgery.
Due to her father's work, Pelikan spent her childhood in several different countries, including France, Japan, and Italy, before returning to the United States when she was a teenager, settling in Bethesda, Maryland. While attending high school in Maryland, Pelikan took an interest in ballet, but was unable to pursue it after the tumor in her leg recurred, requiring a second surgery that left her unable to walk for the entirety of her senior year of high school.

### Acting career

Pelikan shifted her focus to acting, and attended the Juilliard School in New York City with a full scholarship to its drama division. Her first regular television work was as maid Kate Mahaffey on the CBS soap opera Beacon Hill (1975). After, she made her Broadway debut as Rosaline in a 1977 production of Romeo and Juliet.
Pelikan had her feature film debut as the younger version of Vanessa Redgrave's title character in the drama Julia (1977). Pelikan portrayed the title character of the horror film Jennifer (1978), starring opposite Nina Foch and John Gavin, and subsequently appeared as the lusty Lucy Scanlon in the television miniseries Studs Lonigan (1979), co-starring with Harry Hamlin, Colleen Dewhurst, and Brad Dourif.
Pelikan was married to actor Robert Harper from 1981 to 1984. In 1984, she had a supporting role in Jonathan Demme's Swing Shift, starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. She subsequently married actor Bruce Davison in 1986, and had one son, Ethan, born in 1996. Pelikan appeared in a leading role in the horror film Ghoulies (1985), and starred as the widowed mother Sarah Hargrave in the film sequel Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991).
She won a Drama-Logue Award for her role in a Los Angeles-based production of Only a Broken String of Pearls (1995), a one-woman play about Zelda Fitzgerald by Willard Simms. In 1998, she had a minor part in the thriller film Shadow of Doubt.
In 2006, Pelikan and Davison divorced after 20 years of marriage. In 2018, Pelikan earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in acting from California State University, Long Beach. As of 2022, she taught "Acting with the Camera" at HB Studio in New York City.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1977 | Julia | Young Julia |
| 1978 | Jennifer | Jennifer Baylor |
| 1979 | Jigsaw (L'Homme en colère) | Anne |
| 1984 | The House of God | Jo Miller |
| 1984 | Swing Shift | Violet |
| 1985 | Ghoulies | Rebecca |
| 1990 | Lionheart | Helene |
| 1991 | Return to the Blue Lagoon | Sarah Hargrave |
| 1998 | Shadow of Doubt | Leslie Saxon |
| 2015 | Circle | Cancer Survivor |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1974 | The Country Girl | Nancy | TV film |
| 1975 | Beacon Hill | Kate Mahaffey | Series regular |
| 1975 | Valley Forge | Tavis | TV film |
| 1976 | I Want to Keep My Baby! | Miranda | TV film |
| 1977 | Happy Days | Michelle | Episode: "The Graduation: Part 1" |
| 1977 | Kojak | Jennifer Campbell | Episode: "Lady in the Squadroom" |
| 1977 | The Best of Families | Mary Margaret Rafferty | TV miniseries |
| 1977 | James at 15 | Paisley | Episodes: "Friends", "The Apple Tree, the Singing and the Gold" |
| 1978 | Perfect Gentlemen | Annie Cavagnaro | TV film |
| 1978 | True Grit: A Further Adventure | Mattie Ross | TV film |
| 1979 | Studs Lonigan | Lucy Scanlon | TV miniseries |
| 1979 | The Last Convertible | Rosamond Ardley | TV miniseries |
| 1980 | The Women's Room | Kyla | TV film |
| 1981 | The Best Little Girl in the World | Gail Powell | TV film |
| 1983 | Trapper John, M.D. | Rachel | Episode: "Life, Death and Vinnie Duncan" |
| 1984 | This Is the Life | Bonnie | Episode: "Reprise for the Lord" |
| 1984 | Remington Steele | Christy Cordaro | Episode: "High Flying Steele" |
| 1985 | A Bunny's Tale | Lee | TV film |
| 1985 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Nurse Ellen Hatch | Episode: "Night Fever" |
| 1986 | Hotel | Laura Shafer | Episode: "Enemies Within" |
| 1986 | Blacke's Magic | Lenore Madden | Episode: "Wax Poetic" |
| 1986 | The Equalizer | Anne Fitzgerald / Diane Snyder | Episode: "Counterfire" |
| 1987 | Cagney & Lacey | Frances Gorelik | Episode: "Divine Couriers" |
| 1989 | Murder, She Wrote | Jill Goddard | Episode: "Prediction: Murder" |
| 1991 | Sons and Daughters | Melanie | Episode: "Melanie" |
| 1991 | Into the Badlands | Sarah Carstairs | TV film |
| 1991 | In the Heat of the Night | Jeanette Marshall | Episode: "Obsession" |
| 1991 | Murder, She Wrote | Allison Franklin | Episode: "Terminal Connection" |
| 1992 | Brooklyn Bridge | Bernice | Episode: "Rainy Day" |
| 1993 | Jack's Place | Lizzie | Episode: "The Pipes Are Calling" |
| 1997 | Color of Justice | Betty | TV film |
| 2001 | The Guardian | Carol Ritter | Episode: "The Men from the Boys" |
| 2001 | Off Season | Ashley Manson | TV film |
| 2002 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Dr. Garrison | Episode: "Waste" |
| 2002 | For the People | Amanda Jacobs | Episode: "Nascent" |
| 2003 | Strong Medicine | Babs Darner | Episode: "The Hero Heart" |
| 2007 | Marlowe | Laura Devin | TV film |
| 2007 | Sacrifices of the Heart | Virginia Doyle | TV film |
| 2010 | 10,000 Days | Anna Hesse | Regular role (12 episodes) |
| 2013 | Rake | Lorraine Wilson | Episode: "1.1" |
| 2014 | 10,000 Days | Anna Hesse | Television film |

## Stage credits

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1975 | The Elephant in the House | Francesca | Circle Theatre, New York City |
| 1977 | Romeo and Juliet | Rosaline | Circle in the Square Theatre |
| 1984 | Love's Labour's Lost | Katharine | Circle Repertory Theatre |
| 1995 | Only a Broken String of Pearls | Zelda Fitzgerald | Theatre Geo, Los Angeles |
| 2000 | Panache | Kathleen Trafalger | The Players Theatre |
| 2013 | The Normal Heart | Dr. Emma Brookner | The Fountain Theatre |