Claudia Wells - Life and Career

Life and Career

Born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, she spent her early childhood years growing up in Punto Fijo, Cariubana, Falcón, a Venezuelan city, later graduating from high school in San Francisco, California, where she was also raised. After appearances in TV shows, Wells played Jennifer Parker, Marty McFly's girlfriend, in the 1985 film Back to the Future. She almost didn't end up in the first film of the successful franchise. According to Wells, in an interview with Yahoo.com online entertainment series "The Yo Show," she had been cast, but a pilot she had done for ABC had been picked up, and she was contractually forced to drop out of "BTTF." During that time, Eric Stoltz had been shooting for 8 weeks with another actress in the role of Jennifer, but the producers halted filming and replaced Stoltz with Michael J. Fox. By then, Wells' pilot had been finished and she was recast as Jennifer, now shooting alongside Fox, never having filmed a frame with Stoltz.

After her mother was diagnosed with cancer, Wells said family took precedence and told the studio she would not be available to reprise the role for the two sequels; actress Elisabeth Shue replaced her.

That same year, 1985, Wells co-starred in Stop the Madness, an anti-drug music video sponsored by the Reagan administration, featuring several famous musicians, actors and athletes. The following year, she appeared in the TV movie Babies Having Babies and the short-lived series Fast Times, a TV adaptation of the popular 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Wells played Linda Barrett, portrayed by Phoebe Cates in the film). Following Fast Times, she did not again appear on-screen until the 1996 independent film Still Waters Burn (released on DVD February 12, 2008).

In 2011, Wells had the opportunity to reprise her role from Back to the Future, 26 years after her last appearance in the series. She provided the voice of Jennifer Parker for Back to the Future: The Game by Telltale Games.