Film and Television Work
Slater made her acting debut in the ABC Afterschool Special "Amy & the Angel", aired in 1982, alongside James Earl Jones, Meg Ryan, and Matthew Modine. This was also the only film she appeared in as a brunette. In 1984, she was cast as the title character, versus Faye Dunaway as Selena, in the film Supergirl, released in 1984. The film, directed by Jeannot Szwarc, received mixed reviews, and was not a box-office success.
In her next film, she was cast alongside Christian Slater (no relation) and Yeardley Smith as Billie Jean Davy, a folk hero that styles herself as a modern day Joan of Arc, in the film The Legend of Billie Jean (1985). Next she appeared in two high profile comedies, Ruthless People (1986) and The Secret of My Success (1987). More high-profile roles followed when she appeared in the cult classic independent comedy Sticky Fingers (1988) with longtime friend Melanie Mayron and the steamy A House in the Hills (1993) with Michael Madsen. She has also voiced Talia al Ghul in the highly acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series (1992).
She became a spokeswoman for Preference by L'Oréal in both television and print ads. Since the late 1980s, she has worked in television and film. She made a brief guest appearance on Seinfeld as a love interest of Jerry Seinfeld, who in reality is a huge fan of the Superman universe. Slater made a return to the Superman franchise, as she was seen in a recurring role as Clark Kent's biological mother, Lara, on the Superman-themed TV series Smallville.
In 2009, she guest-starred in an episode of The CW horror series Supernatural. In 2011, she was cast in the ABC Family series The Lying Game.
Read more about this topic: Helen Slater
Famous quotes containing the words film and, film, television and/or work:
“The obvious parallels between Star Wars and The Wizard of Oz have frequently been noted: in both there is the orphan hero who is raised on a farm by an aunt and uncle and yearns to escape to adventure. Obi-wan Kenobi resembles the Wizard; the loyal, plucky little robot R2D2 is Toto; C3PO is the Tin Man; and Chewbacca is the Cowardly Lion. Darth Vader replaces the Wicked Witch: this is a patriarchy rather than a matriarchy.”
—Andrew Gordon, U.S. educator, critic. “The Inescapable Family in American Science Fiction and Fantasy Films,” Journal of Popular Film and Television (Summer 1992)
“You should look straight at a film; that’s the only way to see one. Film is not the art of scholars but of illiterates.”
—Werner Herzog (b. 1942)
“Anyone afraid of what he thinks television does to the world is probably just afraid of the world.”
—Clive James (b. 1939)
“Remember, a woman has to work harder than a man and have more patience in order to achieve success.”
—Margaret Mary Morgan, U.S. suffragist, print shop owner, and politician. As quoted in Dianne Feinstein, ch. 5, by Jerry Roberts (1994)