Lisa Jane Persky

Lisa Jane Persky is an American actress, journalist, author, artist, and photographer. She played supporting roles in the films The Great Santini, Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) and When Harry Met Sally... (1989), and worked in the late 1970s as a writer and photojournalist for New York Rocker magazine.

Early life and education After her parents' divorce, her father, Mordecai (Mort) Persky, married novelist Judith Rossner (Looking for Mr. Goodbar), and her mother, Jane Holley Persky, married classical violinist Vladimir Weisman. Persky grew up in New York City's Greenwich Village at 87 Christopher Street, a building known for notable tenants such as H.M. Koutoukas and Yoko Ono. She attended P.S. 41 for elementary school then the High School of Art and Design, where she studied graphic design.

Acting Immediately after she graduated from high school, Persky's neighbor Koutoukas, a playwright, told her that he had written a play for her. He cast her, with the salary of $25 per week, as "Cordelia Wells, The World's Most Perfect Teenager" in Grandmother Is in the Strawberry Patch. In 1976, she performed as Mary-Eleanor in Tom Eyen's Women Behind Bars, directed by Ron Link and starring Divine.

She has since appeared in many plays, including on Broadway in Steaming, and has received critical acclaim for her stage performances in Los Angeles. She received the Drama-Logue and LA Weekly Theater awards (for Best Actress) for Mayo Simon's These Men, in which she starred at the Los Angeles Actors Theatre Company and for Hearts on Fire at the Odyssey. She also received a Drama Critics Circle award nomination (for Outstanding Performance) for These Men.

Her breakout performance as a film actress came in 1979 playing the role of Robert Duvall's daughter in The Great Santini. She has acted in over two dozen films, including American Pop, The Cotton Club, Peggy Sue Got Married, The Big Easy, When Harry Met Sally..., and Coneheads. In her role as Katrina in Destiny Turns on the Radio (1995), she gave actor/director Quentin Tarantino his first on-screen kiss. In 2013, she appeared in I Am Divine, Jeffrey Schwarz's documentary about the actor Divine.

Persky's television work has included a recurring role on Private Eye as well as appearances on NYPD Blue, The X-Files, King of the Hill, E/R, The Golden Girls, and dozens more. She has appeared in made-for-TV movies such as Meat Loaf: To Hell and Back and KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park.

Writing and editing An early participant in the CBGB music scene, she was a founding staff member at New York Rocker magazine. During that era, she documented the burgeoning punk and new wave movement as a writer and a photojournalist. She revisited the era on the "New York Rockers" panel at the 2012 EMP Pop Conference.

As a journalist, her work has appeared in publications including Fortean Times and LA Weekly. In 2010, she became a founding editor of the Los Angeles Review of Books, where she was also art director. She left the publication in December 2012.

Her fiction has appeared, among other places, in the magazines BOMB and Eclectica (where, billed as Eljay Persky, she was one of 30 writers selected to be anthologized in its Eclectica: Best Fiction Vol. 1 collection).

Visual art In addition to her fine-art photography, her photography has been featured in magazines such as Mojo, Q, and Uncut, and in books, including Gary Valentine's memoir, New York Rocker: My Life in The Blank Generation, Punk: The Whole Story, and Lance Out Loud, to which she also contributed an essay. Her collage work has appeared in publications including the Los Angeles Times and LA Style, and it earned her an Award for Design Excellence from Print magazine. In 2008, she co-produced and curated Los Angeles Loteria; An Exploration of Identity, an edition of prints in honor of the 40th anniversary of Aardvark Letterpress. In 2012, she contributed the foreword to the catalog for photographer Bobby Grossman's exhibit Low Fidelity - The Photos of Bobby Grossman.

Personal life and miscellaneous appearances On January 19, 2008, she married Andy Zax, a music historian and former co-star of the Comedy Central game show Beat the Geeks.

Persky occasionally has appeared at fan conventions, including the 20th anniversary celebration for Quantum Leap and at the 2013 New York/New Jersey Kiss Expo.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1979 The Great Santini Mary Anne Meechum 1980 Love in a Taxi Marian1981American PopBella 1983 Breathless Salesgirl billed as Lisa Persky 1984 The Cotton Club Frances Flegenheimer 1985 The Sure Thing Mary Ann Webster 1986 Peggy Sue Got Married Delores Dodge 1987 The Big Easy McCabe 1989 Great Balls of Fire! Babe 1989 When Harry Met Sally... Alice 1990 In the Best Interest of the Children Gwen Hatcher 1990 The Last of the Finest Harriet Gross 1990 Vital Signs Bobby 1993 Coneheads Lisa Farber 1994 Dead Funny Sarah 1994 Pontiac Moon Alicia Frank 1995 Destiny Turns on the Radio Katrina 1996 Female Perversions Margot 1998 Where's Marlowe? Jenny 1999 Tumbleweeds Diner Waitress billed as Lisa Persky 1999 The Wetonkawa Flash 1999 Goosed The Psychic 2001 My First Mister Sheila 2001 An American Rhapsody Pattie 2002 Allison 2006 Grilled Sally Wilson 2013 I Am Divine Herself

Television Year Title Role Notes 1977 The Fitzpatricks Episodes: "Halloween" and "The New Fitzpatrick" 1978 NBC Special Treat Cindy Episode: "Snowbound" 1978 KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park Dirty DeeTelevision film 1980 Shirley Episode: "The Three Dates of Shirley Miller" 1981 ABC Afterschool Specials Jo Dayton Episode: "A Matter of Time" 1981 The Choice Emmy SoamesTelevision film 1981 Quincy, M.E. Penny Stone Episode: "Sugar and Spice" 1982 The Incredible Hulk Rita Episode: "A Minor Problem" 1982 Open All Night Laurie 1982 Trapper John, M.D. Sally Episode: "Ladies in Waiting" 1983 Desperate Intruder LindaTelevision film 1984 E/R Episode: "Sentimental Journey" 1984 Shattered Vows Sister CathyTelevision film 1985 The Golden Girls Kate Zbornak Episode: "Guess Who's Coming to the Wedding?" 1985 Amazing Stories Shirley Episode: "The Main Attraction" 1985 New Love, American Style Episode: "Love and Leaving Home" 1986 Crime Story Joanne Goldman Episode: "Pilot" 1986 The Twilight Zone Sandra Episode: "The Once and Future King" 1987 Private Eye Dottie Episodes: "Pilot," "Nickey the Rose," "War Buddy," "Blue Movie," "Blue Hotel Pt.1," "Nobody Dies in Chinatown" 1988 Private Eye Dottie Episode: "Hollywood Confidential" 1988 Sharing Richard Roberta 1988 Thirtysomething Sharon Berman Episode: "Whose Forest Is This?" 1989 It's Garry Shandling's Show Kitty Episode: "Vegas: Part 2" 1990 Grand Jenny Episode: "Norris' Romance" 1991 The Antagonists Joanie Rutledge 1992 Designing Women Heather McPhaul Episode: "All About Odes to Atlanta" 1992 Mann & Machine Episode: "Cold, Cold Heart" 1993 Murphy Brown Jane Episode: "Games Mothers Play" 1994 Quantum Leap Marion Episode: "Memphis Melody - July 3, 1954" 1995 The Marshal Felton Voorhees Episodes: "Twoslip" and "Pass the Gemelli" 1995 Touched by an Angel Alison Episode: "The Big Bang" 1997 The Pretender Lamont Episode: "Bomb Squad" 1998 Perfect Assassins Janice FranklinTelevision film 1999 The X-Files Laura Weinsider Episode: "Terms of Endearment" 1999 King of the Hill Actress (voice) Episode: "Love Hurts and So Does Art" 1999 Touched by an Angel Stasi Episode: "The Last Day of the Rest of Your Life" 2000 Meat Loaf: To Hell and Back Wilma AdayTelevision film 2002 The Practice Karen Garvey Episode: "The Test" 2002 The Division Ann Fenwick Episode: "Illusions" 2004 NYPD Blue Jessica Applebaum Episode: "What's Your Poison?" 2005 Invasion Disheveled Woman Episode: "Unnatural Selection" 2005 Twins Marcy Episode: "Horse Sense"