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Jill Schoelen

Jill Schoelen

Birthday: 1963-03-21 | Place of Birth: Burbank, California, USA

A more unconventional husky-voiced "scream queen" heroine of the 1980s was Jill Schoelen, daughter of well-known fashion designer Dorothy Schoelen. Born and raised in Burbank, she studied at the Acting for Life Theatre in Burbank and started off on TV as a teen in the Fame-influenced TV pilot called Best of Times (1981) (TV) starring the up-and-coming Nicolas Cage and Crispin Glover. She gained in experience with a number of innocuous films geared mostly toward the young, including D.C. Cab (1983), Thunder Alley (1985) and Hot Moves (1984). The dark-eyed, black-haired pretty with the trademark bangs wouldn't find her horror niche until hooking up with Wes Craven and his TV movie Chiller (1985) (TV). From there she scored big with the cult shocker The Stepfather (1987) wherein she played the resourceful stepdaughter terrorized by the lecherous, meek-appearing Terry O'Quinn as the title monster. The sleeper hit put Jill on the map with a seemingly solid future, continuing on with The Phantom of the Opera (1989), this time keeping company opposite Freddy Krueger inhabiter Robert Englund as her deranged pursuer. But a few bumps in the road with such lowgrade fodder as Curse II: The Bite (1989), Cutting Class (1989) and Popcorn (1991) put a permanent damper on her career, despite coming back with a bit of grit in the thriller TV movie When a Stranger Calls Back (1993) (TV). Her object-of-a-stalker days behind her after filming Not Again! (1996), she settled comfortably back and raised two children with husband/musician/composer Anthony Marinelli.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

1994
There Goes My Baby

as    Babette

1993
When a Stranger Calls Back

as    Julia Jenz

1992
Adventures in Spying

as    Julie Converse

1991
Popcorn

as    Maggie

1989
The Phantom of the Opera

as    Christine Day

1989
Curse II: The Bite

as    Lisa Snipes

1989
Cutting Class

as    Paula Carson

1987
The Stepfather

as    Stephanie Maine

1986
Babes in Toyland

as    Mary Piper / Mary Contrary

1985
That Was Then... This Is Now

as    Angela Shepard

1985
Thunder Alley

as    Beth

1985
Chiller

as    Stacey

1983
D.C. Cab

as    Claudette