Kristy Swanson

Kristen Noel Swanson (born December 19, 1969) is an American actress, best known for her portrayal of Buffy Summers in the 1992 cult film Buffy the Vampire Slayer.[1] Swanson began her career appearing in several teen films, including Pretty in Pink (1986) and Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986). Her first starring role was in Wes Craven's horror film Deadly Friend (1986), followed by her portrayal of Catherine "Cathy" Dollanganger in the film adaptation of V.C. Andrews's Flowers in the Attic (1987).
== Early life ==
Was born and raised in Mission Viejo, California,[2] the daughter of physical education teachers Robert and Rosemary Swanson. Swanson graduated from El Toro High School. Swanson has one older brother, Rob.[3] Kristy's paternal grandfather was Swedish, and her maternal grandfather was of Germanancestry.[4] She has an uncle who taught English and journalism in Anaheim, California.
At the age of nine, Kristy expressed interest in acting to her parents, and began pursuing roles in television commercials. She landed her first job appearing in a doll house commercial, which was followed with several more commercial appearances.[2]
== Career ==
Swanson began her acting career at The Actors Workshop with R.J. Adams and promptly moved into TV advertising roles and several one-off appearances in TV series such as Cagney and Lacey and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. In 1986, she debuted on the big screen in two John Hughes films: Pretty In Pink, in a non-speaking role, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off as a character who announces a convoluted excuse for Ferris' absence in class. Her first starring role was later in 1986, in Wes Craven's Deadly Friend as Samantha – "the girl next door". The next year she played Cathy in the adaptation of V. C. Andrews' best-seller Flowers in the Attic.
Swanson revealed in a 2015 television interview[5] how she was cast in Pretty In Pink: "[Writer] John Hughes said, 'We're re-shooting the end of Pretty in Pink. I was wondering if you would come be in this scene with our main character, Ducky, because the way we tested it in the movie theater, it didn't work. We need him to end up with somebody else at the end of the movie. So would you play the part?'"
By 1990, Swanson had made many television appearances, including multiple appearances in Knots Landing (1987–1988), Nightingales (1989),[6] her first starring role in a TV series, although it only lasted a season, and a short-lived Burt Reynolds television series called B.L. Stryker (1989).
Throughout the 1990s, she starred mostly in films. She played the title role in the 1992 movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Although not a hit at the box office originally, it had a profitable rental life. She appeared in both starring and supporting roles in movies such as Hot Shots!, The Program, The Chase, or her most critically acclaimed role, playing Kristen Connor, a student discovering her sexuality, in John Singleton's Higher Learning. She also appeared in the film adaptation of the comic-book The Phantom and the dark comedy 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag with Joe Pesci. Most of these films failed at the box office, and she reverted to TV work in the late 1990s.
In the 1998–99 season of Early Edition, Swanson played Erica Paget, a love interest of the main character, Gary Hobson. In 1999, Swanson played Vanessa, the girlfriend of Adam Sandler in the movie Big Daddy. In 2000, she returned to a television series, as the star of Grapevine, a revamp of a 1992 TV series that was canceled after five episodes.
Swanson posed nude for Playboy magazine in November 2002 in a cover-featured pictorial. She appeared in and won the 2006 Fox television program Skating with Celebrities, partnered with Lloyd Eisler.
On May 8, 2007, Swanson appeared in the Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode "Bombshell", playing a fictionalized variation on Anna Nicole Smith.
In 2007, she became a spokesperson of the Medifast diet. In the following year, she guest-starred in three episodes of the lesbian web series 3Way.
In July 2009, she filmed What If..., co-starring Kevin Sorbo and Debby Ryan, released on August 20, 2010. It was her first theatrical film in 10 years.
Swanson made a cameo appearance in the "Don't You Forget About Me" episode of One Tree Hill, which aired on February 1, 2010. The episode was a homage to John Hughes; Swanson appeared in two films produced by him in the 1980s. In 2018, she was cast in the lead role in Hallmark Channel original movie Winter's Dream along with other TV projects. She also appeared in the Hallmark Christmas movie called A Christmas Wish (2011).
== Personal life ==
Swanson started dating actor Alan Thicke in 1986, when she was 17 years old, and became engaged to him two years later when she was 19 and he was 42.[7]However, the pair never married.
Swanson began an extramarital affair with her Skating with Celebrities partner Lloyd Eisler during the show's run, while Eisler was still married to his then-pregnant wife, Marcia O'Brien.[8] Swanson gave birth to a son named Magnus Hart Swanson Eisler on February 16, 2007, just one month after Lloyd's divorce from Marcia O'Brien was finalized.[9] Swanson married Eisler on February 7, 2009 in San Luis Obispo, California.[10]
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1986	Pretty in Pink 	Duckette 	
1986	Ferris Bueller's Day Off 	Simone Adamley 	
1986	Deadly Friend 	Samantha Pringle 	
1987	Flowers in the Attic 	Catherine "Cathy" Dollanganger	
1990	Dream Trap 	Sue Halloran 	
1990	Diving In 	Terry Hopkins 	
1991	Mannequin Two: On the Move	Jessie 	
1991	Hot Shots! 	Kowalski 	
1991	Highway to Hell 	Rachel Clark 	
1992	Buffy the Vampire Slayer 	Buffy Summers 	
1993	The Program 	Camille Shafer 	
1994	The Chase 	Natalie Voss 	
1994	Getting In 	Kirby Watts 	
1995	Higher Learning 	Kristen Connor 	
1995	The Chili Con Carne Club 	Julie 	Short film
1996	The Phantom 	Diana Palmer 	
1997	8 Heads in a Duffel Bag 	Laurie Bennett 	
1997	Lover Girl 	Darlene Ferrari / "Sherry" 	
1997	Tinseltown 	Nikki Randall 	
1998	Ground Control 	Julie Albrecht 	
1999	Big Daddy 	Vanessa 	
2000	Meeting Daddy 	Laurel Lee 	
2000	Dude, Where's My Car? 	Christie Boner 	
2001	Soul Assassin 	Tessa Jansen 	
2003	Silence 	Dr. Julia Craig 	
2005	Bound by Lies 	Laura Cross 	Video
2005	Six Months Later 	Linda 	Short film
2006	Living Death 	Elizabeth Harris 	Video
2009	The Closer 	Kaitlyn 	Short film
2010	What If... 	Wendy Walker 	
2011	Chick Magnet 	Kristy 	Video
2012	Little Women, Big Cars 	Rocky 	
2013	The Bouquet 	Terri Benton 	
2013	Storm Rider 	Jody Peterson 	Video
2014	Beethoven's Treasure Tail 	Anne Parker 	Video
2014	A Belle For Christmas 	Daniella Downy 	Video
2017	A Parent's Worst Nightmare	Kathrin 	Television film
2017	A Mother's Sacrifice 	Joanna 	
2017	Crowning Jules[11] 	Victoria 	
=== Television ===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1984 	It's Your Move 	Laura 	Episode: "Love Letters"
1985 	Call to Glory 	Sally 	Episodes: "JFK: Parts 1 & 2"
1985 	Cagney & Lacey 	Stephanie Brandon 	Episode: "On the Street"
1985 	Joan Rivers and Friends Salute Heidi Abromowitz	Young Heidi Abromowitz 	
1986 	Alfred Hitchcock Presents 	Female Student #2 	Episode: "The Gloating Place"
1986 	Miracle of the Heart: A Boys Town Story 	Stephanie Gamble 	Television film
1986 	Mr. Boogedy 	Jennifer Davis 	Television film (ABC)
1986 	The Hogan Family 	Linda Perkins 	Episode: "The Big Fix-Up"
1987 	Jaurez 	Cathy Dodge 	Tellevision film
1987 	Growing Pains 	Rhonda 	Episode: "Thank God It's Friday"
1987 	Not Quite Human 	Eron Jeffries 	Television film (ABC)
1987–1988	Knots Landing 	Jody Campbell 	Recurring role (8 episodes)
1988 	The Loner 	Sherry Spicer 	Television film
1988 	Ohara 	 	Episode: "X"
1988 	Nightingales 	Rebecca "Becky" Granger	Television film (NBC)
1989 	Nightingales 	Rebecca "Becky" Granger	Main role (13 episodes)
1989 	B.L. Stryker 	Lynn Ellingsworth 	Episodes: "The Dancer's Touch", "Blues for Buder"
1996 	Marshal Law 	Lilly Nelson 	Television film (Showtime)
1997 	Bad to the Bone 	Francesca Wells 	Television film (ABC)
1998–1999	Early Edition 	Erica Paget 	Main role (20 episodes)
1999 	Supreme Sanction 	Jenna 	Television film (HBO)
2000 	Grapevine 	Susan Crawford 	Regular role (5 episodes)
2001 	Untitled Charles Randolph Project 	 	TV pilot
2001 	Zebra Lounge 	Louise Bauer 	Television film
2003 	Just Shoot Me! 	Allison Cavanaugh 	Episode: "There's Something About Allison"
2003 	Red Water 	Dr. Kelli Raymond 	Television film (TBS)
2004 	CSI: Miami 	Roxanne Price 	Episode: "Complications"
2005 	Forbidden Secrets 	Alexandra Kent Lambeth 	Television film
2006 	The Black Hole 	Shannon Muir 	Television film (Syfy)
2007 	Law & Order: Criminal Intent 	Lorelai Mailer 	Episode: "Bombshell"
2008 	3Way 	Leslie Lapdalulu 	Episodes: "Fatal Distraction: Parts 1 & 2", "The Dinah Monologues"
2009 	Hell's Kitchen 	Herself 	Season 6 Episode 4: "13 Chefs Compete"
2010 	One Tree Hill 	Woman in Car 	Episode: "Don't You Forget About Me"
2011 	Swamp Shark 	Rachel Bouchard 	Television film (Syfy)
2011 	A Christmas Wish 	Martha Evans 	Television film (Hallmark)
2011–2014	Psych 	Marlowe Viccellio 	Recurring role (6 episodes)
2012 	Operation Cupcake 	Janet Carson 	Television film
2014 	A Lesson in Romance[12] 	Megan Mills 	Television film (PixL)
2014 	Merry Ex-Mas 	Noelle 	Television film (ION)
2015 	Driven Underground 	Sarah Palmer 	Television film (Lifetime)
2015 	Angels in the Snow 	Judith Montgomery 	Television film (UP)
2018 	Bad Stepmother 	Louise 	Television film (Lifetime)
2018 	Winter's Dream 	Kat 	Television film (Hallmark)
== Awards and nominations ==
Wins
* 1989: Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress in a Horror or Mystery Motion Picture – Flowers In The Attic
Nominations
* 1988: Young Artist Award for Best Young Female Superstar in Motion Pictures – Deadly Friend
* 1987: Young Artist Award for Exceptional Young Actress Starring in a Television Special or Movie of the Week – Mr. Boogedy
* 1986: Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress – Guest in a Television Series – Cagney & Lacey episode "On The Street"