Where Are They Now? Lost 80s Movie Actresses Of The Day
It's not too hard to keep up with the big stars of 80s movies. We get regular updates on Molly Ringwald, Phoebe Cates, Elisabeth Shue, etc. But I was watching Better Off Dead not long ago and thought, I wonder whatever happened to Diane Franklin? And then I started thinking about some of the other supporting actresses of 80s movies that I liked, and wondered what happened to them, too. And then I started working on this post. And then it took forever to finish. And now here it is. I hope you like it. If not, I quit.

DEBORAH FOREMAN
80s breakthrough
A former Maybelline model, Foreman is best remembered as the title character and object of Nic Cage's affection in Valley Girl (1983).
After That
Played weekend party host (and killer?) Muffy St. John in April Fool's Day and had small parts in Real Genius and My Chauffeur. Foreman continued to work sporadically through the late 80s and early 90s, but never had another hit.
Today
Foreman is a yoga and pilates instructor in L.A., and returned to the screen after 13 years to appear in 2008's Beautiful Loser.

DIANE FRANKLIN
80s breakthrough
Made her 1982 film debut in The Last American Virgin (though not as the titular virgin), followed by a role in Amityville II: The Possession.
After That
Played exchange student Monique in Better Off Dead (1985), and has continued to work in film and television off and on since the 80s, including parts in "Matlock," "Charles In Charge" and "Murder, She Wrote." She also played Princess Joanna in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989).
Today
Franklin is married with two kids and does occasional acting gigs. In a nod to her Better Off Dead character, the L.A. Dodgers-loving Monique, Franklin sang the National Anthem at a Dodgers game in 2004.

HAVILAND MORRIS
80s breakthrough
As high-school hottie Caroline Mulford in Sixteen Candles (1984), the obstacle between Sam (Molly Ringwald) and her crush, Jake (Michael Schoeffling).
After That
Morris has worked consistently in movies (Who's That Girl, Gremlins 2, Home Alone 3) and TV series ("Family Ties," "Cosby," "Sex And The City").
Today
Married with a daughter, Morris recently appeared in "One Tree Hill" and "Canterbury's Law," and has parts in the upcoming films, Fighting Fish and Adam. She also sells real estate in New York City.

KERRI GREEN
80s breakthrough
A cum laude graduate of Vassar College, Green was discovered by Steven Spielberg and cast as Andy Carmichael in The Goonies (1985).
After That
Another 1985 hit, Summer Rental, and a memorable performance in David Seltzer's Lucas (1986). Since then Green has appeared in Three For The Road (1987), and episodes of "ER," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "Mad About You." She also wrote and directed Bellyfruit in 1999.
Today
Producer, screenwriter and mother of three, Green lives in L.A.

AMANDA WYSS
80s breakthrough
As Judge Reinhold's girlfriend Lisa in Fast Times At Ridgemont High, although she'd already been in several TV shows and movies before that.
After That
Became Freddie Kreuger's first-ever victim in 1984's A Nightmare On Elm Street. Also appeared in Better Off Dead and Silverado in 1985 before dropping off the radar and appearing mostly in low-budget films and guest roles on TV series ("ER," "The Division," "Cold Case," "CSI").
Today
Wyss will appear later this year with Joe Pantoliano in To Live And Die, and recently did an episode of Showtime's "Dexter."

CATHERINE MARY STEWART
80s breakthrough
As Maggie Gordon, girlfriend of Alex Rogan (Lance Guest) in 1984's The Last Starfighter, although she had appeared in several TV series and movies prior to that, including a bit part in Sylvester Stallone's Nighthawks.
After That
Catherine continued to work after Starfighter, with parts in Mischief, Weekend At Bernie's, "The Outer Limits" (TV), "The Guiding Light" and more. She also married and became a mother to two children, a boy and a girl.
Today
On her blog, Catherine says that after taking time off to raise her kids, she is now focusing on work again. She appeared in 2008's Generation Gap, a made-for-cable movie starring Ed Asner, John Heard and Rue McClanahan.

CLAUDIA WELLS
80s breakthrough
As Marty McFly's girlfriend, Jennifer, in Back To The Future. Wells did not appear in the sequels, choosing instead to take care of her cancer-stricken mother. (Elisabeth Shue took over the role for Back To The Future II and III.)
After That
Wells appeared in only a handful of projects, including the short-lived TV series, "Fast Times," based on the movie, Fast Times At Ridgemont High. She left show business in 1986, but recently appeared in Still Waters Burn, a low-budget indy film.
Today
Owns Armani Wells, a men's clothing store in L.A.

MIA SARA
80s breakthrough
Her first movie was Legend (1985) with Tom Cruise, but her breakthrough was Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) as Ferris' girlfriend, Sloane.
After That
Sara has enjoyed steady work since the 80s: A Stranger Among Us, Timecop, "Time Trax," The Pompatus Of Love, "Chicago Hope," "CSI: NY," a recurring role on the WB series, "Birds Of Prey," and more.
Today
Still working; recently appeared in "Tinseltown" (2007) and "Nightmares & Dreamscapes" (2006). Has one daughter, 11, with ex-husband Jason Connery.

HELEN SLATER
80s breakthrough
1984's Supergirl, followed by The Legend Of Billie Jean (1985)
After That
Scored two more hits with Ruthless People (1986) and The Secret Of My Success (1987), and has continued to work steadily in movies (City Slickers, Happy Together, Betrayal Of The Dove), TV ("Seinfeld," "Will & Grace," "Grey's Anatomy") and Broadway.
Today
Slater is married with a daughter and still acts; she appeared last year in episodes of "Crossing Jordan" and "Smallville." An accomplished pianist, singer and songwriter, she has two CDs out, "One Of These Days" and "Crossword."

Just a reminder that the above was a posting on the List of the Day blog which I thought was worth sharing and not originally from Kickin' it. So after I read that, I was pretty impressed with the list he compiled. There were a few more 80s actresses that jumped to my mind, so I thought I would do my best to give you a similar take on those ladies. I tried to include a "then" and "now" picture for each of them, but unfortunately I could not find a "now" picture for all of them.

AMANDA PETERSON
She was the lovely "Cindy Mancini" as a 16 year old in Can't Buy Me Love (1987). She played the popular girl who Patrick Dempsey's character pays to pretend to date him, but during that time a love connection is made. She played one of the orphans in Annie (1982) and even played Ricky's girlfriend in a first season episode of the TV series Silver Spoons (also in 1982). She also had a role in 1985's Explorers (with River Phoenix and Ethan Hawke). After Can't Buy Me Love she made a few more movie and TV appearances then unfortunately left acting after her last role in 1995's straight-to-video movie Windrunner. She is 37 years old now, but I could not find a confirmed account of what she is up to today.

CINDY MORGAN
She had the memorable role of "Lacey Underall" in the outstanding comedy Caddyshack (1980). She was 26 years old when she went skinny-dipping with Chevy Chase's character in that movie. She would also go on to be in the cult favorite Tron (1982) as "Dr. Lora Baines/Yori." After that, she made a couple appearances on television (Falcon Crest, Matlock) and has done some voice over work as recently as 2006. She is 54 years old now. According to her myspace page, she's now finishing her first book, a story about how a nice Catholic girl became Lacey Underall in Caddyshack.

IONE SKYE
She was in the amazing film by Cameron Crowe Say Anything...(1989) as "Diane Court" when she was 19 years old. She is the love interest and obsession of John Cusack's character. She had made her film debut three years earlier (1986) in River's Edge (with Crispin Glover and Keanu Reeves). Her first marriage was to Adam Horovitz (King Ad Rock of the Beastie Boys) but was divorced and just re-married in December 2008 to musician Ben Lee. Skye has a daughter, Kate, with ex-boyfriend designer David Netto. She still acts and has appeared in movies regularly though in smaller roles including 2007's Zodiac. Skye is 38 years old now.

SUZANNE SNYDER and JUDIE ARONSON
Everybody remembers the beautiful Kelly LeBrock from Weird Science (1985), but what about Gary and Wyatt's girlfriends from that movie, "Deb" (Snyder) and "Hilly" (Aronson). Snyder was 23 in the movie and went on to appear in Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) and a couple episodes of Seinfeld. She is now 46. Aronson, who had previously appeared in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984), was 21 in Weird Science and would also appear in the movie American Ninja that same year. She has had other minor film roles, has made many guest appearances on television series since then and even appeared in the music video for "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection" by Nelson in 1990. She is 44 years old now.

MICHELLE MEYRINK
I remember her best as "Jordan" from Real Genius (1985) when she was 23 years old. Before that, she appeared in The Outsiders (1983) as Cherry's friend "Marcia," Valley Girl (1983) as "Suzi" and in Revenge of the Nerds (1984) as Gilbert's girlfriend "Judy." Those are some of the great 80s movies and she had small roles in all of them. She even appeared in a 1984 episode of Family Ties. Retired from acting now, her last film role was in 1988's Permanent Record. She is 46 years old now and as of 2003, she lived with her husband and three children on Bowen Island, a short ferry ride from Vancouver.

LORI SINGER
She has to be best known for her role as the rebellious preacher's daughter "Ariel Moore" in Footloose (1984) when she was actually already 27 years old playing a high school student. She had first broke through in the TV series Fame from 1982-83 where she portrayed cello player "Julie Miller." Singer came from a musical family and is a Julliard-trained cellist who made her debut as soloist at age thirteen with the Oregon Symphony. She was once voted one of the "Most Beautiful People" by People Magazine. After Footloose, she starred in a number of other movies, including The Falcon and the Snowman (1985), The Man with One Red Shoe (1985 with Tom Hanks) and the Robert Altman film Short Cuts (1993). In 1995, she was involved in the creative conception of and played the lead character in the science fiction TV series VR.5. Married to New York civil liberties attorney Richard Emery way back in 1980, the couple had a son before divorcing in 1996. Her cousin is film director Bryan Singer (X-men). Singer is now 51 years old.

APOLLONIA KOTERO
She left quite an impression on me after starring along side Prince in Purple Rain (1984) as "Apollonia" when she was 25 years old. She had taken the place of Vanity in Prince's entourage and thus received the role in that 80s classic. She sings on Prince's "Take Me With U" from the soundtrack and also was leader of the short-lived all girl group called Apollonia 6. She would leave Prince's side in 1985 to join the cast of the TV series Falcon Crest where she would play the girlfriend of teen heartthrob Lorenzo Lamas. She released a solo album in 1988 with little fanfare and starred in some straight-to-video movies. She made a few TV series appearances in the mid-90's. More recently, she received some attention when Kanye West's 2007 hit song "Stronger," used her name in the lyrics. She is 49 years old now.

There were some others that I will save for another issue another time. (If you have any specific actresses that come to your mind, please feel free to leave them in the comments section below.) It is amazing how these young women seemed to be headed for bigger things, but for most of them, they had to settle for something much less and many are not even acting at all anymore. On the brighter side, they are all immortalized in these classic 80s movies so even though they may be gone now, for some of us they will never be forgotten. I do plan on doing a similar "Where Are They Now" issue for 80s male actors.

That'll do it for this issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks as always for reading. This issue has gotten me in the mood to go watch some of these 80s movies starring the actresses above. If you are interested in reading any of my other 80s related issues, please click there for a summary of those. You can also always click on the Archives in the upper left hand column or use the Google Search Box at the top of the right hand column to find any other issues you may have missed. If you are a fan of Kickin' it, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FACEBOOK LOGO in the upper right hand column. This will take you to the new Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "Become a Fan". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.

Check this out: Ricardo Montalban passed away today (January 14, 2009) at the age of 88. Montalban is the Mexican-born actor known best for some significant 80s contributions like "Mr. Roarke" on the TV series Fantasy Island (1978-84), "Khan" in the 1982 motion picture Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, "Vincent Ludwig" in the first Naked Gun (1988) and those Chrysler Cordoba commercials when he described the "soft Corinthian leather." I was going to discuss these topics a little further but someone beat me to it and I shall recommend you click on this link to go to Stuck in the 80s and read his tribute which also includes some videos of Montalban in those 80s moments. Our thoughts and prayers are with Montalban's family.

Quote of the day: "Moving on, is a simple thing, what it leaves behind is hard." -Dave Mustaine