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Kristen Swanson was born December
19, 1969, in Mission Viejo, California. She dreamed of becoming an actress
as a child, and got her start at the age of nine, appearing in a TV
commercial for a dollhouse. By the time she was 13, Kristy had appeared in
over 30 television ads. At this point, she gave up regular schooling to
concentrate on acting, and her parents, who were physical education
teachers, provided Kristy with home instruction. Around the same time, the
Swanson family relocated to Los Angeles.
Kristy Swanson landed bit parts in television series like Call to Glory
(1985) and Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1986). She lucked out when she
landed small roles in two very popular Brat Pack-era teen comedies; 1986's
Pretty in Pink and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. She continued to work in
made-for-TV movies and commercials, and was nominated for a Young Artist
Award for her turn in Mr. Boogedy (1986). Swanson's first cinematic
leading role, in Wes Craven's Deadly Friend (1986), earned her a second
Young Artist nomination.
In 1987, Swanson starred in Flowers in the Attic, based on V.C. Andrews'
classic horror novel. She received the Young Artist Award as Best Young
Actress in a Horror or Mystery Motion Picture for her work. She returned
to television for a recurring role on the CBS primetime soap Knots Landing
during the 1987-88 season. A more prominent role in the Aaron
Spelling-produced Nightingales on NBC, where she played a student nurse,
abruptly ended after only one season (1988-89).
Swanson returned to the big screen with roles in the largely forgotten
Dream Trap and Diving In (both 1990). In 1991, she appeared in Hot Shots!
and played the lead in the dismal Mannequin 2: On the Move.
But her career received a big boost in 1992 when she played the title
character of Buffy Summers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Portraying a
cheerleader who learns she has been chosen to rid the world of evil
vampires, Kristy turned in a dazzling performance, but the film didn't do
well at the box office. It did become a hot video rental, however, which
helped spawn the successful TV series starring Sarah Michelle Gellar in
the title role.
Swanson's athletic prowess came in handy for her portrayal of a tennis
star in 1993's The Program. The following year, she starred in The Chase,
appearing as the daughter of a millionaire taken hostage by an innocent
Charlie Sheen, on the run from the law. For Higher Learning (1995), Kristy
received some of her best reviews, playing a naïve college freshman coming
to terms with her homosexuality. Her performance in The Phantom (1996),
based on the popular comic strip, was overshadowed by then unknown
Catherine Zeta-Jones, who played the movie's voluptuous villainess.
In 1997, Swanson starred as a seductive sociopath in the ABC made-for-TV
movie, Bad to the Bone. That same year, she also appeared on the big
screen in Lover Girl and 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag, a comedy co-starring Joe
Pesci and David Spade. In 1998, she played a gossipy Southern socialite in
Meeting Daddy, and returned to primetime television for the 1998-'99
season of Early Edition on CBS.
The big screen beckoned once again, and Swanson was perfectly cast as Adam
Sandler's girlfriend in the box-office blockbuster Big Daddy (1999). In
Dude, Where's My Car? (2000), Kristy played the appropriately named
Christie Boner, a ditzy yet seductive blonde bombshell. She was then cast
as a meddling cruise-line executive on the CBS midseason replacement
comedy Grapevine, which was promptly canceled.
In 2001, she appeared in the made-for-TV movie Zebra Lounge, and
co-starred on the big screen in Soul Assassin. The year 2002 found the
actress playing a psychiatrist in Silence, and in what was perhaps an
attempt at shedding her "girl next door" persona, Kristy bared all in the
November issue of Playboy. |
|
"Law & Order: Criminal Intent"
.... Lorelai Mailer (1 episode, 2007)
... aka Law & Order: CI (USA: promotional abbreviation)
- Bombshell (2007) TV Episode .... Lorelai Mailer
Living Death (2006) (V) .... Elizabeth
The Black Hole (2006) (TV) .... Shannon Muir
Six Months Later (2005) .... Linda
Forbidden Secrets (2005) (TV) .... Alexandra Kent Lambeth
Bound by Lies (2005) (V) .... Laura Cross
... aka The Long Dark Kiss (Europe: English title)
"CSI: Miami" .... Roxanne Price (1 episode, 2004)
- Complications (2004) TV Episode .... Roxanne Price
Silence (2003/I) .... Dr. Julia Craig
... aka Dead Silence (USA: video title)
... aka The Only Witness (USA: TV title)
Red Water (2003) (TV) .... Dr. Kelli Raymond
"Just Shoot Me!" .... Allison Cavanaugh (1 episode, 2003)
- There's Something About Allison (2003) TV Episode .... Allison
Cavanaugh
Zebra Lounge (2001) (TV) .... Louise Bauer
... aka Rendez-vous au Zebra Lounge (Canada: French title)
Soul Assassin (2001) .... Tessa Jansen
Untitled Charles Randolph Project (2001) (TV)
Dude, Where's My Car? (2000) .... Christie Boner
Meeting Daddy (2000) .... Laura Lee
"Grapevine" .... Susan Crawford (5 episodes, 2000)
- Matt (2000) TV Episode .... Susan Crawford
- Jack (2000) TV Episode .... Susan Crawford
- Jamie (2000) TV Episode .... Susan Crawford
- Thumper (2000) TV Episode .... Susan Crawford
- Pilot (2000) TV Episode .... Susan Crawford
Big Daddy (1999/I) .... Vanessa
Supreme Sanction (1999) (TV) .... Jenna
"Early Edition" (1996) TV Series .... Erica Paget (unknown episodes,
1998-1999)
Ground Control (1998) .... Julie Albrecht
... aka Jet (UK: video title)
Bad to the Bone (1997) (TV) .... Francesca Wells
Tinseltown (1997) .... Nikki Randall
Lover Girl (1997) .... Darlene Ferrari/'Sherry'
... aka Lover Girls
8 Heads in a Duffel Bag (1997) .... Laurie Bennett
Marshal Law (1996) (TV) .... Lilly Nelson
The Phantom (1996) .... Diana Palmer
Higher Learning (1995) .... Kristen Connor
The Chase (1994) .... Natalie Voss
Getting In (1994) .... Kirby Watts
... aka Student Body
The Program (1993) .... Camille Shafer
The Chili Con Carne Club (1993) .... Julie
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) .... Buffy Summers
Highway to Hell (1992) .... Rachel Clark
Hot Shots! (1991) .... Kowalski
Mannequin: On the Move (1991) .... Jessie
... aka Mannequin 2: On the Move (USA: promotional title)
Diving In (1990) .... Terry Hopkins
Dream Trap (1990) .... Sue Halloran
"B.L. Stryker" .... Lynn Ellingsworth (2 episodes, 1989)
- Blues for Buder (1989) TV Episode .... Lynn Ellingsworth
- The Dancer's Touch (1989) TV Episode .... Lynn Ellingsworth
"Nightingales" (1989) TV Series .... Rebecca "Becky" Granger
B.L. Stryker: The Dancer's Touch (1989) (TV) .... Kimberly
Nightingales (1988) (TV) .... Becky
"Knots Landing" .... Jody Campbell (4 episodes, 1987-1988)
- In Too Deep (1988) TV Episode .... Jody Campbell
- Flight of the Sunbirds (1987) TV Episode .... Jody Campbell
- Love In (1987) TV Episode .... Jody Campbell
- Say Uncle (1987) TV Episode .... Jody Campbell
Flowers in the Attic (1987) .... Cathy Dollanganger
Not Quite Human (1987) (TV) .... Eron Jeffries, Chip's Crush
"Growing Pains" .... Rhonda (1 episode, 1987)
- Thank God It's Friday (1987) TV Episode .... Rhonda
Juarez (1987) (TV)
Deadly Friend (1986) .... Samantha Pringle
"Valerie" .... Linda Perkins (1 episode, 1986)
... aka The Hogan Family (USA: new title)
... aka The Hogans
... aka Valerie's Family (USA: new title)
- The Big Fix-Up (1986) TV Episode .... Linda Perkins
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) .... Simone Adamley
Mr. Boogedy (1986) (TV) .... Jennifer Davis
Miracle of the Heart: A Boys Town Story (1986) (TV) .... Stephanie
Gamble
Pretty in Pink (1986) .... Duckette
"Alfred Hitchcock Presents" .... Female Student #2 (1 episode, 1986)
- The Gloating Place (1986) TV Episode .... Female Student #2
"Cagney & Lacey" .... Stephanie Brandon (1 episode, 1985)
- On the Street (1985) TV Episode .... Stephanie Brandon
"Call to Glory" (2 episodes, 1985)
- JFK: Part 1 (1985) TV Episode
- JFK: Part 2 (1985) TV Episode |
