Helen Slater is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She appeared as the Kryptonian superheroine in TriStar's 1984 film Supergirl. In the following years, she starred in several successful comedy-drama films such as Ruthless People, The Secret of My Success, and City S...
High School of Performing Arts, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, William A. Shine Great Neck South High School
Nationality
United States of America
Spouse
Robert Watzke (m. 1989)
Children
Hannah Nika Watzke
Parents
Gerald Slater, Alice Joan Citrin
Siblings
David Slater
Nicknames
Helen Rachel Slater , Helen Rachel Schlacter
Movies
Supergirl, The Legend of Billie Jean, The Secret of My Success, City Slickers, Ruthless People, A House in the Hills, No Way Back, Betrayal of the Dove, 12:01, Seeing Other People, Beautiful Wave, Nowhere in Sight, Happy Together, The Long Way Home, A Remarkable Life, Lassie, The Curse of Downers Gr...
TV Shows
The Lying Game, Capital News, Michael Hayes, The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible
Star Sign
Sagittarius
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Trademark
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Often portrays smart and/or artistic characters who get into trouble
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Quote
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[on her performance in 'Sticky Fingers' (1988)] One of the ways Melanie and I prepared for our roles was to invent clown characters. My clown's name was 'Colleen,' which we changed to 'Caullie Flower,' and Melanie's clown was 'Little Mellie Joy.' There's an actual specific formula to doing clown work. You have the authority figure and the clown, and what 'clown' means to both Melanie and I is that you're on the wire. That's the beauty of the art of the clown... that they're so open, all the way.
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[on her character "Mary" in No Way Back (1995)] Mary . . . is a chatty, loopy, quirky flight attendant who doesn't understand all that's going on around her. She realizes the situation soon enough and perceives Yuji is innocent, but she knows that Zack is also in a terrible conflict with his son. Yet she questions him: Why is he doing this? How can he take this guy [Yuji] to his death? Mary wises up very quickly.
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[on her teen years] I was terribly gawky--too goofy to become a high-kicking cheerleader--with stringy brown hair and bad posture. Definitely nobody noticeable!
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[about her character "Christy Wills" in The Secret of My Succe$s (1987)] At first I wanted her to appear more military-like, wearing more blue and the like, but then Herb [director Herbert Ross] told me to have her display more female qualities, which turned out to be right because we could then see she was more apt to being both an executive and a woman.
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[on looking at herself in the home-made Supergirl costume she wore to her audition] I looked at myself in the mirror and I thought, "I look like such a jackass".
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[on facing mid-life crisis] I can't speak for all women, but I do think that . . . I mean, me and my girlfriends, we definitely . . . we're in crisis on a continuous basis . . . or at least monthly, for sure, I don't know. It's funny because we just bust ourselves! We go to therapy, we eat right, we stay away from caffeine, we try to have loving relationships with our mothers and more communication with our fathers, and still the black abyss will open up!
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Fact
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Appearing at Collector Mania convention, coming back into the limelight. [April 2006]
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She played Superman's cousin Kara Zor-El / Supergirl / Linda Lee in Supergirl (1984), Superman's mother Lara Lor-Van in Smallville (2001), and Supergirl's foster mother Eliza Danvers in Supergirl (2015).
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Tested successfully for a role in The Slugger's Wife (1985) but was forced to drop the part due to contractual details.
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Both she and Christian Slater achieved early success playing brother and sister in The Legend of Billie Jean (1985), leading many to believe they were real-life siblings. Although they share the same last name, they are not, in fact, related.
Released 2nd album titled "Crossword." Another self-penned collection of music recorded live in a studio. This time, music is more jazz inspired, rather than folk like her debut. Slater had written songs for her "Crossword" album before her first album was released. After recording "Crossword," Slater was prepared to compose another collection for album #3. [January 2005]
Wrote a musical called "Ugly Duckling." Though a take on the original story, it is written for adults and centers around human characters, and she is trying to get it published.
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Spoke to Christopher Reeve about portraying a superhero. They spent all day on the streets of New York with Reeve giving advice on being a super-heroine.
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Gained over 20 pounds for the role in Supergirl (1984).
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Barry Friedman was one of her acting coaches at the New York High School for Performing Arts.
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Her real hair color is brown. After dying it once for Supergirl (1984), she kept it blonde for her future roles until she became a spokeswoman for Preferance by L'oreal. She can be seen with her natural hair in her first feature, ABC Afterschool Specials: Amy & the Angel (1982).
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Was the first girl to audition for Supergirl (1984). The producers thought she was the strongest of all who auditioned, and after months of callbacks and screen tests, she was cast.
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In addition to her piano skills, she is also a classically trained singer.
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Co-founded the New York-based Theater group The Naked Angels with Gina Gershon.
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Attended the premiere of Supergirl (1984) with Superman (1978) star Christopher Reeve. Reeve was originally set for a cameo in the film, playing cousin to Slater as Superman, but bowed out later.
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Enjoys singing and playing the piano.
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Performed some of her own stunts in Supergirl (1984).
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Attended and graduated from the famous New York High School of Performing Arts.
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Gave birth to a 7-lb., 10-oz. baby girl, Hannah Nika, on August 28, 1995.