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Helen Slater
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Helen Rachel Slater (born December 15, 1963) is an American film actress and singer-songwriter.
elen Rachel Slater was born in Massapequa, New York, the daughter of Alice Joan (née Citrin), a lawyer and nuclear disarmament peace activist based in New York City, and Gerald Slater, a television executive; the two divorced in 1974. She has a brother, David, who is a lawyer in New York City. Her family is Jewish.
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Encyclopedia
Helen Rachel Slater (born December 15, 1963) is an American film actress and singer-songwriter.
Personal life
Helen Rachel Slater was born in Massapequa, New York, the daughter of Alice Joan (née Citrin), a lawyer and nuclear disarmament peace activist based in New York City, and Gerald Slater, a television executive; the two divorced in 1974. She has a brother, David, who is a lawyer in New York City. Her family is Jewish. Slater attended the High School of Performing Arts, graduating in 1982. She married award-winning editor Robert Watzke. Their daughter, Hannah Nika, was born August 28, 1995. She now lives in Vancouver, Canada.
Slater has been erroneously thought to be related to Christian Slater. In addition to their shared professional surname--Christian's birth name is Christian Michael Leonard Hawkins--the myth is further fueled by their portrayal of sister and brother in The Legend of Billie Jean. Additionally, the DVD of Supergirl includes a critic's review which states Christian is her brother.
Film and television work
She made her acting debut in the ABC Afterschool Special Amy and the Angel, transmitted in 1982, alongside James Earl Jones, Meg Ryan, and Matthew Modine. This was also the only film she appeared in as a brunette. In 1984, she was cast as the title character, versus Faye Dunaway as Selena, in the film Supergirl, released in 1984. The film, directed by Jeannot Szwarc, received mixed reviews, and was not a box office success. Slater herself later confessed that even she did not understand the story the film was attempting to tell.
In her next film, she was cast alongside Christian Slater and Yeardley Smith as Billie Jean Davy, a modern day Joan of Arc, in the cult classic The Legend of Billie Jean (1985). Next she appeared in two high profile comedies, Ruthless People (1986) and The Secret of My Succe$s (1987), playing ingenues in both roles. She also became a spokeswoman for Preference by L'Oréal in both television and print ads.
Since the late 1980s, she has worked infrequently in television and film. She made a brief guest appearance on Seinfeld as a love interest of Jerry Seinfeld, who in reality is a huge fan of the Superman universe. More recently, Slater was seen in a recurring role as Clark Kent's biological mother, Lara Lor-Van, on the Superman-themed TV series Smallville.
In 2009, she guest starred in an episode of The CW horror series Supernatural.
Stage work
Slater co-founded the New York theater group, The Naked Angels, with Gina Gershon. Her stage credits include appearances in Grease, and Shakespeare and Friends. Off-Broadway, she starred in Responsible Parties and Almost Romance. She also attended classes at both NYU and UCLA, to broaden her acting abilities.
Musical career
Slater has stated that she pursued musical efforts even before doing movies. In the 1989 movie Happy Together, she sang a medley of Broadway songs as well other songs. In the 1994 movie Lassie, she also sang. For the soundtrack of the film Nowhere In Sight (2000), she contributed the song The Detour.
In 2003, she released a CD, One of These Days, consisting of her original songs. Notably, the tracks were real-time recordings with Slater singing and playing piano, plus six other musicians total; no multitracking, editing, or dubbing were employed. In 2005, she released a second CD, Crossword, using the same recording approach as the first CD. Both albums were produced by Phil Swann.
Body of work
Theatrical releases
Television movies & documentaries
- Amy and the Angel (1983, ABC Afterschool Special)
- Capital News (1990, ABC pilot and show)
- The Great Air Race (1990, Australian mini-series)
- 12:01 (1993, Fox)
- Chantilly Lace (1993, Showtime)
- The Steal (1994, British)
- Parallel Lives (1994, Showtime)
- No Way Back (1996, Home Box Office)
- The Long Way Home (1997, PBS documentary, voice)
- Toothless (1997, ABC)
- Best Friends for Life (1998)
- National Lampoons' American Adventure (2000)
- Jane Doe: The Harder They Fall (2006, Hallmark)
Direct-to-video
- Queen Esther (1992, voice)
- Betrayal of the Dove (1992)
- Nowhere In Sight (2000)
Guest appearances
Discography
- One of These Days (2003)
- Crossword (2005)
External links
- * at NNDB
- defunct fan page through Archive most recent archived version.
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