Deborah Foreman

Early life Foreman was born October 12, 1962, in Montebello, California,

Career 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" while her counterpart at the Los Angeles Times enjoyed the same movie. 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".

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.

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." The Los Angeles Times reviewer Michael Wilmington called Foreman a "New Wave Carole Lombard crossed with early Shirley MacLaine". However, Robert Blau of the Chicago Tribune wrote that Foreman "gives a breathlessly irritating portrayal of Casey". 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."

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, 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.'" The reviewer for AllMovie wrote "With her Sheryl Lee-like features and facial expressions, Deborah Foreman makes an appealingly off-balance scream queen".

During the five years following, Foreman appeared in over half a dozen low-budget horror movies and independent films. 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!"

Though she retired from acting in 1991, Foreman did make a brief appearance in the music video "Must Be The One" for the rock band She Wants Revenge, as well as a small cameo as a shopgirl in the 2020 remake of Valley Girl, her best known film.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1982 Love in the Present Tense Heather Jenkins I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can Cindy 1983 Valley Girl Julie Richman Grizzly II: Revenge Chrissy, The Park Ranger's Daughter Released in 2021 1985 Real Genius Susan Decker 1986 Charlie Barnett's Terms of Enrollment Coed/Recruiter My Chauffeur Casey Meadows April Fool's Day Muffy/Buffy St. John 3:15 Sherry Havilland 1988 Waxwork Sarah Brightman Destroyer Susan Malone 1989 Friends, Lovers, & Lunatics Annie The Experts Jill Lobster Man from Mars Mary Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat Sandy White 1991 Lunatics: A Love Story Nancy 2007 Beautiful Loser Carly 2020 Valley Girl Shopgirl Cameo appearance 2023 The Demons Within Nurse Didi

Television Year Title Role Notes 1981 The Grady Nutt Show Becky Williams Unsold pilot 1982 In the Custody of Strangers Karen TV movie T. J. Hooker Alise Edwards / Jenny Clark 2 episodes: God Bless the Child, Deadly Ambition 1983 Romance Theatre Heather Jenkins 5 episodes Family Ties Mary Catherine 1 Episode: Stage Fright 1984 Hot Pursuit Jody 2 episodes: Home Is the Heart: Part 1 & 2 1986 Maggie Alyce Farnsworth TV pilot for CBS 1991 MacGyver Beth Webb 1 Episode: Eye of Osiris 1995 The Marshal Callie Fetter 1 Episode: Gone Fishing