In the late '80s and early '90s, this comely, hard-bodied blonde was a B-movie princess: she played a recently resurrected teen in
Deadly Friend, a spoiled brat in
The Chase, an incestuous sister in
Flowers in the Attic and was the original undead-killing cheerleader
Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Yet appealing as she was, she never managed to shed her low-rent image. A child actress who appeared in myriad TV commercials, Swanson was still a teen when she began landing small-screen guest spots. Although she quickly graduated to the big screen, she didn't make the types of films that got good reviews. By the late '90s she was all grown up and alternating between TV and film, often portraying the leading guy's good-looking gal in fare like
Early Edition and
Big Daddy. But by the '00s, she was reduced to cheesy made-for-TV thrillers such as
Forbidden Secrets. Her decision to pose for Playboy in 2002 and her guest spot on
Law & Order: Criminal Intent as an addled Anna Nicole Smith-type bombshell confirmed her status as a second-tier sexpot. As for her personal life, in 2006 she became a tabloid target after falling for her married Olympic-medalist partner Lloyd Eisler on the reality competition
Skating with the Stars. However, the couple maintained that they had hooked up only after Eisler separated from his wife. Whatever the truth, the pairing proved a winning one, as they took home the
Skating with the Stars trophy and went on to have a child.
Kristy Swanson Fast Facts:
- Left school in eighth grade to concentrate on acting; her parents tutored her at home.
- Auditioned to play Paul Reubens' love interest in 1988's Big Top Pee-wee but was deemed too young. Four years later they appeared together in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
- Appeared in three movies with Charlie Sheen: Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), Hot Shots! (1991) and The Chase (1994).
- Kristy Swanson Relationships:
- Lloyd Eisler - Husband
- Magnus Hart Swanson Eisler - Son
- Robert Swanson - Father
- Rosemary Swanson - Mother
