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80's actress and musician, leader of Prince's Vanity 6, is dead at 57...
I love her body of work. She was a big part of some of the early Cannon films (The Last Dragon from '85 is a crazy awesome kung-fu/blaxploitation mashup and 52-Pickup from '86 is a great Elmore Leonard adaptation with Roy Schneider and Ann-Margaret). She was also in the #1 craziest Canadian independent film of all time (from what I know), called Tanya's Island. A love triangle between man, woman, and ape, staged on a deserted island, gets super awkward and rape-y, but blew my mind as a "how the hell did this get made?" think-piece...
She's also in another of my favourite cheesy movies, Never Too Young To Die from 1986. Listen to this plot description: "Secret agent Drew Stargrove is brutally murdered by the ruthless Van Ragnar. In this action-packed Bond-style thriller, the murdered secret agent's son, Lance Stargrove (J. Stamos) is thrust into the dangerous and intriguing world of secret agents and espionage when he seeks revenge against Van Ragnar. Danja Deerling teams up with Lance as his sidekick and love interest. The villain is a super trans-phobic Gene Simmons, who leads a rock and roll biker gang, or something, and he terrorizes the citizens with his androgyny... It's totally insane, and unavoidably hilarious... Recommended with weed/drinks and friends.
She's also recognizable for the failed Action Jackson film with Carl Weathers... but that movie straight up blows. Not worth re-visit, which I had read, but watched just to confirm... Even tracked down a straight-to-video "South Beach" from '93, but it was too sad watching Gary Busey and Fred Williamson grasping at straws with a worn out Vanity along for the ride...
Vanity partied hard for a long time. She had a period of dating Motley Crue's Vince Neil, and apparently she was too crazy of a party girl for even Motley Crue, so she pushed her limits right up until it nearly killed her. She turned her life around (quit acting, drugs, became born again Christian) after a nearly fatal overdose in 1994, but she'd been suffering from decades of abusing her body, so it's not surprising she went so young.
RIP
I love her body of work. She was a big part of some of the early Cannon films (The Last Dragon from '85 is a crazy awesome kung-fu/blaxploitation mashup and 52-Pickup from '86 is a great Elmore Leonard adaptation with Roy Schneider and Ann-Margaret). She was also in the #1 craziest Canadian independent film of all time (from what I know), called Tanya's Island. A love triangle between man, woman, and ape, staged on a deserted island, gets super awkward and rape-y, but blew my mind as a "how the hell did this get made?" think-piece...
She's also in another of my favourite cheesy movies, Never Too Young To Die from 1986. Listen to this plot description: "Secret agent Drew Stargrove is brutally murdered by the ruthless Van Ragnar. In this action-packed Bond-style thriller, the murdered secret agent's son, Lance Stargrove (J. Stamos) is thrust into the dangerous and intriguing world of secret agents and espionage when he seeks revenge against Van Ragnar. Danja Deerling teams up with Lance as his sidekick and love interest. The villain is a super trans-phobic Gene Simmons, who leads a rock and roll biker gang, or something, and he terrorizes the citizens with his androgyny... It's totally insane, and unavoidably hilarious... Recommended with weed/drinks and friends.
She's also recognizable for the failed Action Jackson film with Carl Weathers... but that movie straight up blows. Not worth re-visit, which I had read, but watched just to confirm... Even tracked down a straight-to-video "South Beach" from '93, but it was too sad watching Gary Busey and Fred Williamson grasping at straws with a worn out Vanity along for the ride...
Vanity partied hard for a long time. She had a period of dating Motley Crue's Vince Neil, and apparently she was too crazy of a party girl for even Motley Crue, so she pushed her limits right up until it nearly killed her. She turned her life around (quit acting, drugs, became born again Christian) after a nearly fatal overdose in 1994, but she'd been suffering from decades of abusing her body, so it's not surprising she went so young.
RIP
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