Suzee Slater

Suzanne M. Slater, also credited as Suzee Slater, is an American former actress and model best known as Leslie Todd in the horror film Chopping Mall. She had several minor roles in movies and television in the late 1980s and early 1990s before abruptly leaving the acting industry.

Early life and career Suzee Slater was born in Goodland, Kansas and was raised in Omaha, Nebraska. She attended the University of Nebraska for one year, then worked as a flight attendant for MGM Grand Air, specializing in short-run celebrity flights. Slater eventually met a talent agent at an airline party. After landing a role on an episode of the television series Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, Slater joined the Screen Actors Guild and moved to Los Angeles. She quickly earned brief appearances in the 1984 films Savage Streets and Summer Fantasy.

Slater's most well-known acting credit came as she played the ill-fated Leslie Todd in the 1986 horror movie Chopping Mall, directed by Jim Wynorski and co-produced by Roger and Julie Corman. One of Roger Corman's few requirements was a certain amount of gratuitous nudity, a staple of his production company's releases. Wynorski cast Slater based on her statuesque, buxom figure. Her character's exploding-head death sequence is cited as one of the now-cult film's most memorable scenes among horror aficionados. In a 1993 interview with the magazine Femme Fatales, Slater admitted a certain amount of regret for doing the movie, claiming it "falsely linked to a damned scream queen title."

After Chopping Mall, she continued to gain minor bit parts in movies and some short-lived television shows through the end of the decade, Many of her film roles involved nudity, which she stated she did not mind. However, she wished to avoid being typecast as a "topless bimbo" character, even turning down a role in Jeff Broadstreet's Sexbomb despite her need for work. Her last major role in the movie industry was Heather Black in the 1994 erotic thriller Mind Twister, directed by Fred Olen Ray, in which Slater received top-billing. She was suggested by Wynorski after lead actress Tanya Roberts dropped out of the project. The part called for lengthy softcore sex scenes with her co-stars Erica Nann and Nels Van Patten, a first for Slater.

Personal life Suzee Slater had a mother and brother, both of whom moved out to California to be closer to her. Slater once dated screenwriter Stanley Weiser.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1994 Mind Twister Heather Black 1990 Cartel Nancy 1989 The Big Picture Stewardess 1988 Take Two Sherrie 1987 Real Men Woman in Bed 1986 Las Vegas Serial Killer Photographer's Model 1986 Chopping Mall Leslie Todd 1984 Savage Streets Fadden's girlfriend Uncredited 1984 Summer Fantasy Extra Uncredited

Television Year Title Role Notes 1993 Hearts Afire Woman #2 1 episode ("First Edition")1989 Nearly Departed Woman at bar 1 episode ("Grandpa's Date") 1988 Trial and Error Unaired 1987 Second Chance Becky Sue 1 episode ("The End") 1984 Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer Beverly 1 episode ("A Death in the Family")