Kristy Swanson

Kristy Swanson
Swanson at GalaxyCon Raleigh in 2019
Born	Kristen Noel Swanson December 19, 1969 (age 50) Mission Viejo, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1984–present
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Lloyd Eisler ​ (m. 2009)​
Children	1

Kristen Noel Swanson (born December 19, 1969) is an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Buffy Summers in the 1992 cult film Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the 1996 cult film The Phantom. Her first starring role was in Wes Craven's horror film Deadly Friend (1986), followed by her portrayal of Catherine "Cathy" Dollanganger in the film adaptation of V. C. Andrews's Flowers in the Attic (1987). Swanson also starred in several films, including Hot Shots! (1991), The Program (1993), The Chase (1994), 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag (1997), Big Daddy (1999), and Dude, Where's My Car? (2000), and appeared in Pretty in Pink (1986) and Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986).

Early life

Swanson was born and raised in Mission Viejo, California, the daughter of physical education teachers Robert and Rosemary Swanson. She graduated from El Toro High School. Swanson has one older brother, Rob. Her ancestry includes Swedish and German. She has an uncle who taught English and journalism in Anaheim, California.

At the age of nine, Kristy expressed interest in acting to her parents, and began pursuing roles in television commercials. She landed her first job appearing in a doll house commercial, which was followed with several more commercial appearances.

Career

Swanson began her acting 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.

Swanson revealed in a 2015 television interview how she was cast in Pretty In Pink: "[Writer] John Hughes said, 'We're re-shooting the end of Pretty in Pink. I was wondering if you would come be in this scene with our main character, Ducky, because the way we tested it in the movie theater, it didn't work. We need him to end up with somebody else at the end of the movie. So would you play the part?'"

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 television series called B.L. Stryker (1989).

Throughout the 1990s, she starred mostly in films. She played the title role in the 1992 movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Although not a hit at the box office originally, it 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, playing 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 1990s.

In the 1998–99 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 that was canceled after five episodes. The same year, she had starred in the successful movie Dude, Where's My Car?, alongside Ashton Kutcher, Seann William Scott and Jennifer Garner.

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 & 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 three episodes of the lesbian web series 3Way.

In July 2009, she filmed What If..., co-starring Kevin Sorbo and Debby Ryan, released on August 20, 2010. It was her first theatrical film in 10 years.

Swanson made a cameo appearance in the "Don't You Forget About Me" episode of One Tree Hill, which aired on February 1, 2010. The episode was a homage to John Hughes; Swanson appeared in two films produced by him in the 1980s. In 2018, she was cast in the lead role in Hallmark Channel original movie Winter's Dream along with other TV projects. She also appeared in the Hallmark Christmas movie called A Christmas Wish (2011).

Personal life

Swanson started dating actor Alan Thicke in 1986, when she was 17 years old, and became engaged to him two years later when she was 19 and he was 42. However, the pair never married.

Swanson began dating her Skating with Celebrities partner Lloyd Eisler during the show's run, while Eisler was still married. Swanson gave birth to a son named Magnus Hart Swanson Eisler on February 16, 2007, one month after Lloyd's divorce from Marcia O'Brien was finalized. Swanson married Eisler on February 7, 2009 in San Luis Obispo, California.

Swanson said that she has "always been a proud Republican." She is a supporter of Donald Trump.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Mr. Boogedy	Jennifer Davis	Disney TV film and Pilot
1986	Pretty in Pink	Duckette
1986	Ferris Bueller's Day Off	Simone Adamley
1986	Deadly Friend	Samantha Pringle
1987	Flowers in the Attic	Catherine "Cathy" Dollanganger
1990	Dream Trap	Sue Halloran
1990	Diving In	Terry Hopkins
1991	Mannequin Two: On the Move	Jessie
1991	Hot Shots!	Kowalski
1991	Highway to Hell	Rachel Clark
1992	Buffy the Vampire Slayer	Buffy Summers
1993	The Program	Camille Shafer
1994	The Chase	Natalie Voss
1994	Getting In	Kirby Watts
1995	Higher Learning	Kristen Connor
1995	The Chili Con Carne Club	Julie	Short film
1996	The Phantom	Diana Palmer
1997	8 Heads in a Duffel Bag	Laurie Bennett
1997	Lover Girl	Darlene Ferrari / "Sherry"
1997	Tinseltown	Nikki Randall
1998	Ground Control	Julie Albrecht
1999	Big Daddy	Vanessa
2000	Meeting Daddy	Laurel Lee
2000	Dude, Where's My Car?	Christie Boner
2001	Soul Assassin	Tessa Jansen
2003	Silence	Dr. Julia Craig
2005	Bound by Lies	Laura Cross	Video
2005	Six Months Later	Linda	Short film
2006	Living Death	Elizabeth Harris	Video
2009	The Closer	Kaitlyn	Short film
2010	What If...	Wendy Walker
2011	Chick Magnet	Kristy	Video
2012	Little Women, Big Cars	Rocky
2013	The Bouquet	Terri Benton
2013	Storm Rider	Jody Peterson	Video
2014	Beethoven's Treasure Tail	Anne Parker	Video
2014	A Belle For Christmas	Daniella Downy	Video
2015	Angels in the Snow	Judith Montgomery	Video
2017	A Parent's Worst Nightmare	Kathrin	Television film
2017	A Mother's Sacrifice	Joanna
2017	Crowning Jules	Victoria

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	It's Your Move	Laura	Episode: "Love Letters"
1985	Call to Glory	Sally	Episodes: "JFK: Parts 1 & 2"
1985	Cagney & Lacey	Stephanie Brandon	Episode: "On the Street"
1985	Joan Rivers and Friends Salute Heidi Abromowitz	Young Heidi Abromowitz
1986	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Female Student #2	Episode: "The Gloating Place"
1986	Miracle of the Heart: A Boys Town Story	Stephanie Gamble	Television film
1986	Mr. Boogedy	Jennifer Davis	Television film (ABC)
1986	The Hogan Family	Linda Perkins	Episode: "The Big Fix-Up"
1987	Juarez	Cathy Dodge	Television film
1987	Growing Pains	Rhonda	Episode: "Thank God It's Friday"
1987	Not Quite Human	Eron Jeffries	Television film (ABC)
1987–1988	Knots Landing	Jody Campbell	Recurring role (8 episodes)
1988	The Loner	Sherry Spicer	Television film
1988	Ohara		Episode: "X"
1988	Nightingales	Rebecca "Becky" Granger	Television film (NBC)
1989	Nightingales	Rebecca "Becky" Granger	Main role (13 episodes)
1989	B.L. Stryker	Lynn Ellingsworth	Episodes: "The Dancer's Touch", "Blues for Buder"
1996	Marshal Law	Lilly Nelson	Television film (Showtime)
1997	Bad to the Bone	Francesca Wells	Television film (ABC)
1998–1999	Early Edition	Erica Paget	Main role (20 episodes)
1999	Supreme Sanction	Jenna	Television film (HBO)
2000	Grapevine	Susan Crawford	Regular role (5 episodes)
2001	Untitled Charles Randolph Project		TV pilot
2001	Zebra Lounge	Louise Bauer	Television film
2003	Just Shoot Me!	Allison Cavanaugh	Episode: "There's Something About Allison"
2003	Red Water	Dr. Kelli Raymond	Television film (TBS)
2004	CSI: Miami	Roxanne Price	Episode: "Complications"
2005	Forbidden Secrets	Alexandra Kent Lambeth	Television film
2006	The Black Hole	Shannon Muir	Television film (Syfy)
2007	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Lorelai Mailer	Episode: "Bombshell"
2008	3Way	Leslie Lapdalulu	Episodes: "Fatal Distraction: Parts 1 & 2", "The Dinah Monologues"
2009	Hell's Kitchen	Herself	Season 6 Episode 4: "13 Chefs Compete"
2010	One Tree Hill	Woman in Car	Episode: "Don't You Forget About Me"
2011	Swamp Shark	Rachel Bouchard	Television film (Syfy)
2011	A Christmas Wish	Martha Evans	Television film (Hallmark)
2011–2014	Psych	Marlowe Viccellio	Recurring role (6 episodes)
2012	Operation Cupcake	Janet Carson	Television film
2014	A Lesson in Romance	Megan Mills	Television film (PixL)
2014	Merry Ex-Mas	Noelle	Television film (ION)
2015	Driven Underground	Sarah Palmer	Television film (Lifetime)
2015	Angels in the Snow	Judith Montgomery	Television film (UP)
2018	Bad Stepmother	Louise	Television film (Lifetime)
2018	Winter's Dream	Kat	Television film (Hallmark)
2019	SEAL Team	Julia Logan	Episodes: "Payback", "Medicate and Isolate", "Rock Bottom"

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"

External links

• Kristy Swanson at IMDb
• Kristy Swanson at AllMovie