Adrienne King

Adrienne King (born July 21, 1955–1956efn-lr|name=birthdate|King has publicly acknowledged her birthday is July 21, but sources vary regarding her birth year, with some sources indicating 1960. Per the autobiography on her official website, King writes that she was nine years old when she appeared in the television film Inherit the Wind, released in 1965, while a March 2018 article in The Columbus Dispatch dates King as 62 years old at that time; though the series remains in development as of 2025.

King has also had ventures in art and winemaking: In 2010, she began working as a wine purveyor after partnering with Valley View Vineyards in Oregon's Rogue Valley, curating and selling Crystal Lake Wines themed after Friday the 13th, as well as selling her own paintings. King was raised Catholic and attended a Catholic school.

Career 1965–1979: Early work In 1965, around age nine, King appeared in the television film Inherit the Wind in a supporting role. Beginning in ninth grade, she began auditioning for films in New York City: "As long as I kept my grades up, everyone was cool with it," she recalled.

She soon began training under Bill Esper, a student of acting instructor Sanford Meisner. She began to obtain parts in soap operas, Off-off-Broadway productions, and in several television commercials most notably Burger King advertising. Additionally, she worked as a dancer in the films Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Hair (1979). She also had a small supporting role in the comedy film Between the Lines (1977). During this time, she studied and graduated from New York's Fashion Institute of Technology with a degree in fine arts. The following year, she reprised her role as Alice Hardy in the sequel Friday the 13th Part 2, in which the character meets her demise during the film's opening sequence. King's character of Alice has been retrospectively assessed as a "standardization" of the "final girl" template in slasher films following the Laurie Strode character in Halloween (1978).

After the release of Friday the 13th and during the shooting of Friday the 13th Part 2, King was repeatedly harassed by a male stalker, which led her to recede from the public. Her last on-camera screen appearance at that time was a commercial for Downy which she filmed in 1983. Subsequently, King was hired as a stunt performer and background actor for the Ivan Reitman film Ghostbusters (1984), having been acquainted with the stunt coordinator Cliff Cudney.

She subsequently relocated to London in 1984, where she enrolled for a summer program at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, studying voice and dance. Upon finishing her studies, she returned to the United States, settling in Los Angeles.

2009–present: Film and other ventures In 2008, she signed on to the science fiction horror film under the title Walking Distance, which would later be retitled Psychic Experiment, marking her first onscreen film appearance in 25 years since her work as an extra in Ghostbusters in 1984. King described her role as a strong female lead and liked the script but was dissatisfied with the edited film. However, the experience on the set of this film made her realize that she missed acting. In 2012, she starred in the Welsh Christmas horror film Silent Night, Bloody Night: The Homecoming, an unofficial sequel to the American horror film Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972) and The Butterfly Room. In 2018, King portrayed Jackie Winters, an investigative reporter, in the horror film William Froste and Theresa in the short film Admonition.

Beginning in 2010, King also worked as a winemaker and wine company coordinator for Valley View Vineyards in southern Oregon. She has sold her own line of Friday the 13th-themed wines through the company, called Crystal Lake Wines, as well as paintings. In 2011, she had a supporting role in the independent horror film All American Bully, released in 2015.

In 2021, King reprised her role as Alice Hardy in the medium-length horror fan film Jason Rising. The same year, she recorded the voice narration for the audiobook version of The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix. In January 2023, King was attached to the project in a recurring undisclosed role. Writing for the series was slated to begin in late January 2023 with Kevin Williamson writing one episode for season one.

Personal life After the success of Friday the 13th, King was pursued by a male stalker who managed to learn areas she frequented, where she exercised, and ate lunch. The man took Polaroid photographs of King that he would slip under the door of her New York City apartment, and at one point, broke into her apartment and defaced her artwork. On one occasion, the man confronted her in her apartment and held a gun to her head. The assailant was apprehended and spent some time imprisoned, but the incident traumatized King, prompting her to leave the public eye for many years. Reflecting on the incident in a 2016 interview, King said:

King married Robert Tuckman on November 29, 1981. She later married Richard Hassanein, founder of United Film Distributors, in 1987. Since 2005, she has resided with her husband in Oregon's Rogue Valley.

Ghostbusters Extra Stunt performer; uncredited

Terror in the Aisles Alice Hardy Archive footage

Voice looping

Tales of Poe Queen of Dreams / Private Nurse

Admonition Theresa Short film

Crystal Lake Friday the 13th prequel series for Peacock