Deborah Foreman

Foreman was born October 12, 1962, in Montebello, California, the daughter of Lynette and Clyde Foreman, a Marine Corps pilot. She was raised in Arizona and Texas. When she was 13, her parents enrolled her at the Barbizon School of Modeling in Houston to help her overcome shyness, where she received a trophy after completing the courses. In high school, Foreman received high marks and was a cheerleader. While she was still a student, local photographer Wally Lewis hired her for newspaper and catalog ads. A chance meeting with a representative of Wilhelmina Models led to her signing with its California office and modeling assignments for Maybelline cosmetics.{{cite news |url=http://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be/en/interviews/deborah-foreman-actress/ |title=Deborah Foreman (Actress) |magazine=Peek-A-Boo Magazine |date=August 3, 2014 |first=Didier |last=Becu}}

Four weeks after arriving in Los Angeles, Foreman earned her SAG card after appearing in a McDonald's of England commercial. Resolving to become a serious actress, she took acting lessons from a variety of teachers. Her first acting job was in a comedy pilot for NBC's The Grady Nutt Show. More television work and two supporting film roles soon followed. After a 1983 appearance on the popular sitcom Family Ties, her first starring role in a feature film was Valley Girl (1983) with the then-little-known Nicolas Cage, which brought her national fame. The New York Times reviewer did not care for Valley Girl and wrote that Foreman was "too passive to carry the movie"{{cite news |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C05E7D9103BF93AA15757C0A965948260 |title=Movie Review: Valley Girl (1983): 'Valley Girl,' A Coast Comedy |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 29, 1983 |last=Maslin |first=Janet}} while her counterpart at the Los Angeles Times enjoyed the same movie.{{cite news |title=Movie Reviews: 'Valley Girl' and 'Wicked': Nicolas Cage Steals A Romeo And Juliet Show |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=April 29, 1983 |page=H1 |last=Benson |first=Sheila |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/153433928 |url-access=subscription |access-date=July 6, 2017 |archive-date=August 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803085503/https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/doc/153433928.html |id={{ProQuest|153433928}} |url-status=live }} {{subscription required}}. Mark Deming of AllMovie wrote that Foreman "made an indelible impression on fans of 1980s pop culture with her performance in the title role of the film Valley Girl".{{cite news |url=http://www.allmovie.com/artist/deborah-foreman-p24283 |title=Deborah Foreman |website=AllMovie |date= |last=Deming |first=Mark}}

In 1985, Foreman had a small role in the comedy film Real Genius. In 1986, she was named "Most Promising New Star" by ShoWest, the largest and most notable film convention in the world.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19860525&id=EHMdAAAAIBAJ&pg=4143,5845918 |title=Future Stars? 12 newcomers moving up on the Hollywood horizon |newspaper=Pittsburgh Press |date=May 25, 1986 |page=F3 |last=Lovell |first=Glenn}}{{cite news |title=A 'Valley Girl' Grows Up |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=June 30, 1985 |page=AC14 |last=Broeske |first=Pat H. |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/154241794 |url-access=subscription |access-date=July 6, 2017 |archive-date=September 18, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918145713/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/doc/154241794.html |id={{ProQuest|154241794}} |url-status=live }} {{subscription required}}.

She had a starring role in the comedy film My Chauffeur (1986), in which she played a somewhat Madonna-influenced character who gets a job as a driver for a stuffy limousine service. My Chauffeur was publicized widely, but connected only modestly with teen audiences and critics. The New York Times reviewer Lawrence Van Gelder wrote "Miss Foreman, who with discipline and far better script might become an engaging comedienne, is mired here in a character who at one moment is delivering a lecture on proper treatment of women and at the next is smirking."{{cite news |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A0DE3DE143BF933A05752C0A960948260 |title=Movie Review: My Chauffeur (1986): Screen:'My Chauffeur' |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 30, 1986 |last=Van Gelder |first=Lawrence}} The Los Angeles Times reviewer Michael Wilmington called Foreman a "New Wave Carole Lombard crossed with early Shirley MacLaine".{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-01-28-ca-1059-story.html |title=Movie Review : A Rambunctious Ride With 'My Chauffeur' |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=January 28, 1986 |last=Wilmington |first=Michael}} However, Robert Blau of the Chicago Tribune wrote that Foreman "gives a breathlessly irritating portrayal of Casey".{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1986/01/27/pointless-obscenity-makes-my-chauffeur-a-movie-violation/ |title=Pointless Obscenity Makes 'My Chauffeur' A Movie Violation |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=January 27, 1986 |last=Blau |first=Robert}} By contrast, Charles Taylor of the Boston Phoenix wrote that Foreman "is an appealing comic actress who goes at even the most inane situations with tireless enthusiasm and dimpley sex appeal" and although "she can't salvage My Chauffeur, she does give perkiness a good name."{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1959&dat=19860318&id=I5IuAAAAIBAJ&pg=2149,6052612 |title=My Chauffeur |newspaper=Boston Phoenix |date=March 18, 1986 |page=14 |last=Taylor |first=Charles}}

That same year, Foreman played dual roles in the offbeat dark comedy and preppy murder mystery April Fool's Day. Although her performance was praised by reviewers, the film's plot and surprise ending were widely panned,{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-03-28-ca-916-story.html |title=Movie Reviews: 'April Fool's Day' Fools Itself |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=March 28, 1986 |last=Goldstein |first=Patrick}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1959&dat=19860415&id=JpIuAAAAIBAJ&pg=5533,8403829 |title=April Fool's Day |newspaper=Boston Phoenix |date=April 15, 1986 |page=5 |last=Taylor |first=Charles}}{{cite news|url=http://www.boxoffice.com/the_vault/issue_page?issue_id=1986-6-1&page_no=46 |title=Reviews: April Fool's Day |magazine=Boxoffice |date=June 1, 1986 |page=R64 |last=Summers |first=Jimmy }}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} with critic Vincent Canby commenting for The New York Times: "... the dialogue is mostly composed of rude variations on 'eek,' 'ugh', and 'I'd like to sleep with you this evening.'"{{cite news |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A0DE6DE133EF934A15750C0A960948260 |title=Movie Review: April Fool's Day (1986): Screen: 'April Fool's Day' Directed By Fred Walton |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 27, 1986 |last=Canby |first=Vincent}} The reviewer for AllMovie wrote "With her Sheryl Lee-like features and facial expressions, Deborah Foreman makes an appealingly off-balance scream queen".{{cite web |url=http://www.allmovie.com/movie/april-fools-day-v2729/review |title=April Fool's Day (1986) review |work=AllMovie |first=Brian J. |last=Dillard |date=}}

During the five years following, Foreman appeared in over half a dozen low-budget horror movies and independent films.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-11-10-ca-988-story.html |title=Movie Review: 'Friends, Lovers & Lunatics' Not Played for Laughs |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=November 10, 1989 |last=Thomas |first=Kevin}}{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-09-ca-36-story.html |title=Movie Review: 'Lobster' Launches Midnight Film Policy |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=February 9, 1990 |last=Thomas |first=Kevin}}{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-02-21-ca-2428-story.html |title=Movie Review: 'Lunatics': High Imagination, Low Budget |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=February 21, 1992 |last=Thomas |first=Kevin}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=336&dat=19860418&id=K0xTAAAAIBAJ&pg=4313,1121877 |title='Showdown' should be rated 'S' for its total stupidity |newspaper=Deseret News |date=April 18, 1986 |page=W3 |last=Hicks |first=Christopher}} Syndicated columnist Joe Bob Briggs gave Foreman a "Drive-in Academy Award nomination as the damsel in distress" for saying "It's all very simple! Bunny men from Neptune have invaded Mars!"{{cite news |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1990/08/10/lobster-man-from-mars-is-a-good-kind-of-bad/ |title='Lobster Man From Mars' Is A Good Kind Of Bad |newspaper=Orlando Sentinel |date=August 10, 1990 |last=Briggs |first=Joe Bob |access-date=December 15, 2013 |archive-date=June 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624050336/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1990-08-10/entertainment/9008090381_1_man-from-mars-lobster-man-patrick-macnee |url-status=live }}

Though she retired from acting in 1991, Foreman did make a brief appearance in a music video for the rock band She Wants Revenge,{{cite news |url=http://www.artistdirect.com/entertainment-news/article/she-wants-revenge-to-release-valleyheart-on-may-24th/8771588 |title=She Wants Revenge to Release "Valleyheart" on May 24th |website=Artistdirect |date=March 24, 2011 |last=Sciarretto |first=Amy}} as well as a small cameo as a shopgirl in the 2020 remake of Valley Girl, her best known film.

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• {{IMDb name|0286033}}
• {{Rotten Tomatoes person|deborah_foreman}}
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgrwnTGE2vg Kevin Smith's SMoviola Presents "Valley Girl"] at Lincoln Center (video interviews)
• [https://chtbl.com/track/8G858/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/stuckinthe80s/stuckinthe80s170.mp3 Deborah Foreman interview with Stuck in the '80s podcast]
• Martha Coolidge, Director of 'Real Genius', 'Valley Girl', talks about Deborah Foreman:
• {{cite web |author1=Old School Tim |title=Interview with Martha Coolidge, Director of 'Real Genius', 'Valley Girl', and More |url=https://www.rediscoverthe80s.com/2019/07/interview-with-director-martha-coolidge.html |website=Rediscover the 80s |date=July 26, 2019}}
• [http://officialmarthacoolidge.com/2014/08/04/back-to-the-80s-interview-with-director-martha-coolidge-kickin-it-old-school/ "Back to the 80s: Interview with director Martha Coolidge."] via: OfficialMarthaCoolidge.com

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Category:1962 births

Category:Actresses from California

Category:American film actresses

Category:American television actresses

Category:Living people

Category:Entertainers from Montebello, California

Category:20th-century American actresses

Category:21st-century American actresses