Kristy Swanson Biography
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Kristy Swanson
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| Kristy Swanson | |
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 Swanson signing autographs outside the Directors Guild of America, Hollywood, before the premier of Fly Me to the Moon on August 3, 2008. |
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| Born | Kristen Nöel Swanson December 19, 1969 Mission Viejo, California, United States |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1982–present |
Kristen Nöel "Kristy" Swanson (born December 19, 1969) is an American actress best known for playing Buffy Summers in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer, she also played Catherine "Cathy" Dollanganger in the movie version of the V.C. Andrews book Flowers in the Attic.
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Career
Swanson started her 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.
By 1990, Swanson had made many television appearances, including multiple appearances in Knots Landing (1987-1988), Nightingales (1989), her first starring role in a TV series, although it only lasted a season, and a short-lived Burt Reynolds vehicle called B.L. Stryker (1989).
Throughout the '90s, she centered mostly in films. She played the title role in the 1992 movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which was a box office bomb but 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, that of 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 '90s.
In the 1998-1999 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. It was cancelled after 5 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 and 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 3 episodes of the lesbian web series 3Way.
In July 2009 she filmed the film What If..., co-starring Kevin Sorbo and Debby Ryan, scheduled for a 2010 release.
In december 2009 she filmed the film "A Root Beer Christmas" in Utah.
Swanson made a cameo appearance in an episode of One Tree Hill that aired on February 1, 2010. The episode was a homage to John Hughes. Swanson appeared in two films produced by him in the 80's.
Personal life
Swanson was born in Mission Viejo, California, the daughter of physical education teachers Rosemary and Robert Swanson.1 She has Swedish ancestry.2
Swanson married her Skating With Celebrities partner, Lloyd Eisler, on February 7, 2009 in San Luis Obispo.3 Their first child, a son named Magnus, was born on February 16, 2007.4 They currently live in Santa Clarita, California.5
Filmography
Movies
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | A Root Beer Christmas | Martha Evans | Currently filming |
| 2010 | What If... | Wendy Walker | |
| 2009 | The Closer | Kaitlyn | Short film |
| 2006 | Living Death | Elizabeth Harris | |
| 2006 | The Black Hole | Shannon Muir | TV movie |
| 2005 | Six Months Later | Linda | Short film |
| 2005 | Forbidden Secrets | Alexandra Kent Lambeth | TV movie |
| 2005 | Bound by Lies | Laura Cross | |
| 2003 | Silence | Julia Craig | |
| 2003 | Red Water | Kelli Raymond | TV movie |
| 2001 | Zebra Lounge | Louise Bauer | |
| 2001 | Soul Assassin | Tessa Jansen | |
| 2000 | Dude, Where's My Car? | Christie Boner | |
| 2000 | Meeting Daddy | Laurel Lee | |
| 1999 | Big Daddy | Vanessa | |
| 1999 | Supreme Sanction | Jenna | TV movie |
| 1998 | Pleasantville | Concerned "Colored" Girl | Uncredited |
| 1998 | Ground Control | Julie Albrecht | |
| 1997 | Bad To The Bone | Francesca Wells | TV movie |
| 1997 | Tinseltown | Nikki Randall | |
| 1997 | Lover Girl | Darlene Ferrari | |
| 1997 | 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag | Laurie Bennett | |
| 1996 | Marshal Law | Lilly Nelson | TV movie |
| 1996 | The Phantom | Diana Palmer | |
| 1995 | Higher Learning | Kristen Connor | |
| 1994 | Getting In | Kirby Watts | |
| 1994 | The Chase | Natalie Voss | |
| 1993 | The Program | Camille Shafer | |
| 1993 | The Chili Con Carne Club | Julie | Short film |
| 1992 | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Buffy Summers | |
| 1992 | Highway to Hell | Rachel Clark | |
| 1991 | Hot Shots! | Kowalski | |
| 1991 | Mannequin: On the Move | Jessie | |
| 1990 | Diving In | Terry Hopkins | |
| 1990 | Dream Trap | Sue Halloran | |
| 1988 | Nightingales | Becky Granger | TV movie |
| 1987 | Flowers in the Attic | Cathy Dollanganger | |
| 1987 | Not Quite Human | Erin Jeffries | TV movie |
| 1987 | Juarez | Cathy Dodge | TV movie |
| 1986 | Deadly Friend | Samantha Pringle | |
| 1986 | Ferris Bueller's Day Off | Simone Adamley | |
| 1986 | Mr. Boogedy | Jennifer Davis | TV movie |
| 1986 | Miracle of the Heart: A Boy's Town Story | Stephanie Gamble | TV movie |
| 1986 | Pretty in Pink | Duckette |
Series
| Year | Series | Role | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | One Tree Hill | Woman in car | 1 episode |
| 2008 | 3Way | Leslie Lapdalulu | 3 episodes |
| 2007 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Lorelei Mailer | 1 episode |
| 2004 | CSI: Miami | Roxanne Price | 1 episode |
| 2003 | Just Shoot Me! | Allison Cavanaugh | 1 episode |
| 2000 | Grapevine | Susan Crawford | 5 episodes |
| 1998-99 | Early Edition | Erica Paget | 20 episodes |
| 1989 | B.L. Stryker | Lynn Ellingsworth | 2 episodes |
| 1989 | Nightingales | Becky Granger | 13 episodes |
| 1987-88 | Knots Landing | Jody Campbell | 5 episodes |
| 1987 | Growing Pains | Rhonda | 1 episode |
| 1986 | Valerie | Linda Perkins | 1 episode |
| 1986 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Female Student #2 | 1 episode |
| 1985 | Cagney & Lacey | Stephanie Brandon | 1 episode |
| 1985 | Call to Glory | 2 episodes | |
| 1984 | It's Your Move | Laura | 1 episode |
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"