caption resting_place death_manner death_date death_place years_active birth_place name birth_date image article_title education birth_name occupation
press '' photo of schaeffer for '' my sister sam ahavai sholom cemetery homicide 18 july 1989 los angeles , california , u.s. 1985 -- 1989 eugene , oregon , u.s. rebecca schaeffer 6 november 1967 rebecca schaeffer 86-88 . jpg rebecca schaeffer
 lincoln high school professional children 's school rebecca lucile schaeffer actress , model
rebecca schaeffer

rebecca lucile schaeffer -lrb- november 6 , 1967 -- july 18 , 1989 -rrb- was an american model and television and film actress .
schaeffer began her career as a teen model before moving on to acting .
in 1986 , she landed the role of patricia `` patti '' russell in the cbs sitcom `` my sister sam '' .
after the series was canceled in 1988 , schaeffer appeared in several films , including the black comedy `` scenes from the class struggle in beverly hills '' , which was released six weeks before her death .
on july 18 , 1989 , schaeffer was fatally shot in the doorway of her west hollywood apartment building by robert john bardo .
bardo was obsessed with schaeffer and had been stalking her for three years .
he was sentenced to life imprisonment for her murder .
schaeffer 's death helped prompt the 1990 passage of america 's first anti-stalking laws , in california .
