Lisa Pelikan

Lisa Pelikan (born July 12, 1954) is an American stage, film, and television actress. Born in Berkeley, California, Pelikan studied drama at the Juilliard School on a full scholarship. She subsequently made her Broadway debut in a 1977 production of Romeo and Juliet. The same year, she appeared as the younger version of Vanessa Redgrave's title character in the film Julia. She subsequently starred in the horror film Jennifer. Her other film credits include Ghoulies (1985) and Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991).

Life and career Early life Pelikan was born July 12, 1954 in Berkeley, California, (Some sources state Pelikan was born in Rome, Italy, or Paris, France, This is corroborated by the California Birth Index, which lists a Lisa Pelikan born in Alameda County, California on July 12, 1954, her documented birthdate.) She is of Czech descent. While attending high school in Maryland, Pelikan took an interest in ballet, but was unable to pursue it after the tumor in her leg recurred, requiring a second surgery that left her unable to walk for the entirety of her senior year of high school. Her first regular television work was as maid Kate Mahaffey on the CBS soap opera Beacon Hill (1975). After, she made her Broadway debut as Rosaline in a 1977 production of Romeo and Juliet. Pelikan portrayed the title character of the horror film Jennifer (1978), starring opposite Nina Foch and John Gavin, and subsequently appeared as the lusty Lucy Scanlon in the television miniseries Studs Lonigan (1979), co-starring with Harry Hamlin, Colleen Dewhurst, and Brad Dourif.

Pelikan was married to actor Robert Harper from 1981 to 1984. In 1984, she had a supporting role in Jonathan Demme's Swing Shift, starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. She subsequently married actor Bruce Davison in 1986, and had one son, Ethan, born in 1996. Pelikan appeared in a leading role in the horror film Ghoulies (1985), and starred as the widowed mother Sarah Hargrave in the film sequel Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991).

She won a Drama-Logue Award for her role in a Los Angeles-based production of Only a Broken String of Pearls (1995), a one-woman play about Zelda Fitzgerald by Willard Simms. In 1998, she had a minor part in the thriller film Shadow of Doubt. In 2018, Pelikan earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in acting from California State University, Long Beach. As of 2022, she taught "Acting with the Camera" at HB Studio in New York City.

In August 2025, Pelikan married Russian internet personality and streamer Ilya Davydov, known professionally as Maddyson. The couple was married in a private ceremony, which was first reported by the Moscow Star Tribune.

Filmography Film

Television