Some of the most notorious scream queens of the ‘80s are still in the public eye and some have fallen off the radar. With that said: We are bringing you updates on thirteen of our favorite ‘80s scream queens and what they have been doing since the peak of their notoriety.
Scream Queens Then and Now
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Brinke Stevens
Brinke Stevens was a major player in the B-movie arena in the 1980s: She starred in films like Slumber Party Massacre and Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama. With nostalgia for retro slasher films growing stronger all the time, she has experienced a resurgence in popularity over the past few years. Stevens told FEARnet in a 2012 interview that she is more in demand now than she has been in 20 years. She explained that there has been a renewed interest in the ‘80s, including the films and actors of that era. She co-wrote, co-directed and starred in Terror Toons 3 this year.
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Lesleh Donaldson
Star of Curtains, Funeral Home, and Happy Birthday to Me, Lesleh Donaldson rose to prominence as a scream queen in the early to mid-'80s. Later, she lent her vocal talents to the Ewoks television series. She made her return to acting dabbling in low budget and short films.
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Heather Langenkamp
To fans of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Heather Langenkamp will always be Nancy. Langenkamp appeared in three Nightmare installment. She still acts occasionally, but now works in special effects makeup. She was, most recently, part of the effects team for Star Trek Into Darkness and also had a small part in the film. Langenkamp also worked on the special effects makeup team for Cabin in the Woods as Heather L. Anderson.
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Lori Lethin
Lori Lethin, the star of Bloody Birthday, Return to Horror High, and The Prey retired from acting some time ago. She stopped acting with any kind of regularity in 1989, with her last film role being in the 1999 film Brokedown Palace. Lethin left Hollywood to start a family and has since earned a PhD in psychology. She currently works as a therapist.
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Linda Blair
Linda Blair secured her association with the horror genre long ago. She appeared in a large number of genre films after starring in The Exorcist in 1973. Blair was in the sorority slasher Hell Night, the underappreciated action/grindhouse classic Savage Streets, and several other genre pictures during her reign as a 1980s scream queen. She still acts occasionally, but mostly does work for her charity, The Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation, which speaks out against animal cruelty and helps find homes for rescue animals.
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Deborah Foreman
After starring in Waxwork and April Fool’s Day, Deborah Foreman became a big hit with horror fans. Unfortunately, as the ‘80s came to an end, the acting roles she was being offered became fewer and further between. She appeared in a couple of roles in the ‘90s and eventually retired from acting (with the exception of one film credit in 2008). After Foreman left acting, she reportedly became a yoga instructor. She now runs her own jewelry business and sells her handcrafted merchandise on her website Pow! Jewels.
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Adrienne King
A quintessential final girl in the history of slasher cinema, Adrienne King famously portrayed Alice in Friday the 13th and Friday the 13th Part II. She left acting in the ‘80s, due to an unfortunate situation with a stalker. She told Fangoria in a recent retrospective interview that she felt like life was imitating art in that Jason was stalking her onscreen and being tormented by a stalker in her private life. Since this all occurred before there were stalking laws, King had very little recourse she could take and lived through her own personal hell at the hands of a mentally ill man that saw the likeness of his ex-wife in King. Ms. King did voice acting for roughly 20 years and moved to Southern Oregon where she runs her own winery that produces Friday the 13th inspired alcohol. She recently returned to acting for Psychic Experiment, which was her first film role since Friday the 13th Part II.
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Linnea Quigley
The lovely Linnea Quigley is memorable to ‘80s horror fans as Trash in The Return of the Living Dead or Suzanne from Night of the Demons. She also turned in memorable performances in ‘80s films like Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers and Savage Streets. Quigley began working on the production side of the film industry in the late '80s and has picked up the pace with two producer credits in 2014 alone. She also has nine acting credits to her name so far this year. In 2003, she reformed her all girl band The Skirts. She also recently graced the cover of the re-launched Gorezone Magazine (pictured here).
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Amy Steel
Scream queen Amy Steel is highly memorable for her performance as Ginny, one of the most likable final girls in the entire Friday the 13th franchise, and for her turn as Kit in the 1986 slasher April Fool’s Day. From what we have gathered, she is currently working as a marriage and family therapist; she works in private practice where she specializes in adolescent and mid-life transitions. She still acts occasionally but is primarily focused on her career as a therapist.
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Dee Wallace
Dee Wallace achieved scream queen status in the ‘80s through roles in films like The Howling, Cujo and Critters. She is still very active in the film industry (she recently appeared in Rob Zombie’s The Lords of Salem). Her website lists one of her current proclivities as a healer. She deals in spiritual and faith based healing. She has authored and co-authored several books, including "Wake Up Now! A Universal Book of Truths" and "The Big E: Everything is Energy." She does private healing sessions by appointment for $300 an hour and also speaks publically about healing and energy.
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Adrienne Barbeau
Adrienne Barbeau is memorable from mainstream film and television as well as genre pictures. She has appeared in a multitude of horror films, including The Fog, Creepshow, and Swamp Thing. Barbeau continues to work in the entertainment industry, but a lot of her effort is now focused on television and voice acting. She has done voice work for several video games as well as a Scooby-Doo animated film and Batman: The Animated Series. She amazingly had twins at 51 years old and released her memoir called "There Are Worse Things I Could Do" in 2006.
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Barbara Crampton
Barbara Crampton became known as Stuart Gordon’s muse actress in the 1980s: She appeared in Re-Animator, Castle Freak, From Beyond and more. She stopped focusing as heavily on her career in the mid-2000s to spend more time with her family but has become active in the genre film arena again after starring in You’re Next and making a cameo in The Lords of Salem.
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Caroline Munro
Caroline Munro gained notoriety in the '70s (with a number of Hammer films) and continued to build momentum into the '80s. She left an impression on audiences with roles in films like Maniac and Slaughter High. She was absent from Hollywood between 1995 and 2002 to focus on motherhood, but since her return in 2003, she has been making horror films again.
