Caitlin Clarke

Caitlin Clarke (born Katherine Anne Clarke; May 3, 1952 – September 9, 2004) Her family moved to Sewickley when she was ten.

Clarke received her B.A. in theater arts from Mount Holyoke College in 1974 and her M.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama in 1978. During her final year at Yale, Clarke performed with the Yale Repertory Theater in such plays as Tales from the Vienna Woods.

Career

Clarke starred in the 1981 fantasy film Dragonslayer. Clarke moved to Los Angeles for several years as a film and television actress.

In 1986, she appeared in the film Crocodile Dundee as Simone, a friendly prostitute. That same year, Clarke appeared in the television series The Equalizer as Jessie Moore, the mother of Laura, played by nine year-old Melissa Joan Hart, who asks McCall for protection from an abusive ex-husband in "Torn."

She returned to theater in the early 1990s, and to Broadway as Charlotte Cardoza in Titanic.

From 1997 to 2000, Clarke had a reoccurring role on Law & Order as Defense Attorney Linda Walsh.

Personal life and death

Clarke was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2000. She returned to Pittsburgh to teach theater at the University of Pittsburgh and at the Pittsburgh Musical Theater's Rauh Conservatory as well as to perform in Pittsburgh theatre until her death on September 9, 2004.

Stage

Broadway

1983 – Teaneck Tanzi: The Venus Flytrap 1985 – The Marriage of Figaro 1985 – Arms and the Man 1985 – Strange Interlude 1998 – Titanic: A New Musical

Off-Broadway

1979 – Othello 1981 – No End of Blame 1983 – Summer 1984 – Total Eclipse 1984 – Quartermaine's Terms 1984 – Thin Ice 1994 – Three Birds Alighting On A Field 1994 – Unexpected Tenderness

Regional

1978 – Tales from the Vienna Woods (New Haven) 1979 – The Winter's Tale (Washington) 1980 – Bal (Chicago) 1981 – Plenty (Chicago) 1982 – Summer Vacation Madness (Minneapolis) 1984 – As You Like It (San Diego) 1984 – Not Quite Jerusalem (New Haven) 1989 – Our Country's Good (Los Angeles) 1991 – The Queen And The Rebels (Baltimore) 1996 – Mrs. Warren's Profession (New Haven) 1997 – Indiscretions (Dallas) 1997 – The Glass Menagerie (Portland, Maine) 1999 – Griller (Baltimore) 2000 – Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Rochester, NY) 2002 – The Gigli Concert (Pittsburgh) 2002 – Aristocrats (Pittsburgh)

Filmography

Film

1981 Dragonslayer as Valerian 1986 Crocodile Dundee as Simone 1988 Kenny (The Kid Brother) as Sharon 1989 The Big Picture as Sharon 1989 Penn & Teller Get Killed as Carlotta / Officer McNamara 1994 Blown Away as Officer Rita 1997 Cost of Living as Annie 1997 A Cure For Serpents (Short) as Mother 1999 Joe the King as Pat 2001 Never Again as Allison (final film role)

Television

+ Caitlin Clarke television credits Year Title Role Notes 1986 The Equalizer Jessie Moore Episode: "Torn" 1987 Moonlighting Elaine Johnson 2 episodes 1987 Once a Hero Emma Greely / Emma Greeley 3 episodes 1986 Mayflower Madam Virginia TV movie 1990 Matlock Sandra Townsend Episode: "The Witness" 1991 Love, Lies and Murder Sandra Eden TV movie 1991 Northern Exposure Irene Rondenet Episode: "Only You" 1996 The Stepford Husbands Lisa TV movie 1997–2000 Law & Order Defense Attorney Linda Walsh 2000 Sex And The City Uptight Woman 1 episode