Saturday Scream Queen: Maryam d'Abo

Maryam d'Abo is one of the many actresses with a long career behind her, but for whom full-fledged stardom has been elusive. With more than 40 television shows and movies to her name, made over three busy decades, hers is still a face that all but the biggest fans of horror films and thrillers from the 1980s and 1990s will have a hard time placing.

A European actress (born in London, but raised in Paris and Geneva by parents who were of Dutch and Croatian extraction), d'Abo got her start playing the ill-fated, over-sexed babysitter in the goopy sci-fi horror flick "Xtro," and her wide ranging and varied resume sports numerous genre flicks and television shows throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including a lead role on the short-lived series "Something Is Out There," and starring turns in horror films like "Night Life", "Immortal Sins", "Stalked", and "Double Obsession".

D'Abo is, however, perhaps best known for playing Kara, the Russian cello-playing Russian spy in the James Bond flick "The Living Daylights". She used that connection for a flirtation with writing and producing that brought the 2002 documentary film "Bond Girls Are Forever", which explores the connotations of being a Bond Girl and the impact it has on actresses' careers, into being. She has since returned to acting full-time, and in recent years has appeared in horror films "Trespassing" (2004) and "Dorian Gray" (2009).

Saturday Scream Queen: Faith Domergue

Born in 1923, Faith Domergue's acting career was one that almost ever happened. In 1939, just after graduating from high school, she was involved in a car accident and was severely disfigured by being thrown into the windshield. She underwent a painful year-and-a-half worth of plastic surgeries, and emerged with looks and grace that captured the interest of billionaire industrialist and movie mogul Howard Hughes, and he had her signed to a contract.

Hughes' RKO studio spent a great deal of money and resources trying to make Domergue a star, but all three big budget pictures they featured her in were busts at the box office. Dropped by RKO, Domergue became a freelancer, accepting roles from a variety of studios, appearing in westerns and crime dramas... and eventually in the string of horror and sci-fi movies for which she is during the late 1950s.

Most notable of her horror flicks from this period are "Cult of the Cobra" and "It Came From Beneath the Sea".

During the 1960s, Domergue turned to television, appearing on several top-rated series while squeezing in a couple of sci-fi movies along the way.

During the early 1970s, Domergue returned to horror film with starring turns in "Legacy of Blood" in 1971 and "So Evil, My Sister" and "The House of Seven Corpses" in 1974. Those would prove to be her final screen appearances, as she retired from acting soon thereafter.

Domergue died in 1999 from cancer.

Saturday Scream Queen: Edwige Fenech

Born on Christmas Eve in 1948, European actress Edwige Fenech started her career on a beauty contest circuit but soon found employment as a model. In 1967, she made her film debut, and she cut a striking (and often naked) figure in dozens of horror films and sex comedies through the 1970s and early 1980s.

As the 1980s wore on, Fenech transitioned to parts that called more upon her talent for acting rather than disrobing, but by the mid-1990s, her career had evolved to the point where she was famous for mostly being famous and she was a regular on Italian talk shows.

Fenech retired from acting and moved behind the camera at the head of her her own production company. She has produced numerous films and mini-series for Italian television, including a very well-received adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice."

Fenech made a brief return to acting in 2007 with a bit-part in the torture-porn cannibal extravaganza "Hostel II," mostly just showing up to show up as an inside joke for fans of 1970s European horror films.

Saturday Scream Queen: Rachel Nichols

Rachel Nichols is another model-turned-actress, and in the roughly ten years since since she turned to acting, she has had major roles in three different TV series (including the serial-killer-centric "Criminal Minds") and numerous cinematic big budget extravaganzas, such as "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra", "Star Trek", and "Conan the Barbarian", which opens in theaters Friday, August 19, 2011.

While horror fans might find something to enjoy in the new Conan films, assuming its done in a manner faithful to the original Robert E. Howard stories, the are probably already familiar with Nichols from her starring turn in the chilling "P2" and the retro-horror flick "The Woods".

In 2012, Nichols will further expand her horror/thriller resume with a lead role in the latest screen adaptation of a James Patterson novel, "I, Alex Cross".

Saturday Scream Queen: Barbara Lass

Polish-born Barbara Lass' was on track to a career as a dancer when, at the age of 17 in 1957, she won a contest hosted by a movie magazine and was offered a film role as a result. By 1959, she left Poland for western Europe and an international film career that spanned three decades and 30 films. She also changed her last name from the very Polish Kwiatkowska to the very simple Lass.

Lass was seen mostly in comedies, as befitting her cute appearance, but she did manage to squeeze in a few horror roles, such as "Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory", "Effie Breist" and "The Thorn in the Flesh."

Barbara Lass was once married to convicted child rapist Roman Polanski. She married him in 1959 when she was 19 and he was 26, but they divorced in 1961. It's easy to see what attracted Polanski to Lass, and even easier to imagine why she divorced him.

Lass died in 1995 at the age of 54 from a brain hemorrhage.

Saturday Scream Queen: Olivia Wilde

With all the women who spend time and money turning themselves into blondes, one would think that actress Olivia Wilde would be happy with her status as a natural blonde. But no. She spends time and money becoming a brunette. "I feel like a brunette," she said in an interview once.

Perhaps best known for her portrayal of "Thirteen" on the long-running television medical drama "House," Wilde also has a growing resume of big-screen credits to her name.

Wilde's film career focuses mostly on comedies and science fiction, but she also starred in the 2006 torture porn-slasher flick "Turistas" and her upcoming film "In Time" falls into the border area between horror and sci-fi.

And, of course, there are alien monsters in "Cowboys and Aliens", which opened in theaters this week.

Olivia Wilde, before the dye

Saturday Scream Queen: Ginger Rogers

Yes. Ginger Rogers.

Before Ginger Rogers became famous for doing everything Fred Astaire could do, but in heels and backwards, in the mid-1930s, and cemented her reputation as both a fine comedic and dramatic actress, she spent a few years appearing in films from small studios, including a pair of "dark old house" thrillers.

While these aren't horror movies by today's standards, "The Thirteenth Guest" (1932) and "A Shriek in the Night" (1933) are both films that are noteworthy for anyone interested in the evolution of the horror film, with the latter being of particular note as it bears some rather striking resemblance to the slasher genre that would finally congeal with the release of "Halloween" some 45 years later. The masked, knife-wielding killer is only the most obvious of these elements.

And Rogers proves that she's was good a screamer as she is was a singer.

While Rogers appeared in many other dramas during her five decades at the top of show-business, she never again played in a film that even came close to a horror movie; after being there for the formative stages of the genre, Rogers moved on and never returned.

Saturday Scream Queen: Shirley Corrigan

Shirley Corrigan began acting professionally at the age of 9, and after spending a number of years with touring theater companies across Europe and the near-East, and she eventually found herself in India. Here, she spent the late 1960s working along-side the legendary Mother Teresa.

Mother Teresa encouraged Corrigan to resume her acting career and to work with children. So, Corrigan moved to Italy and spent the 1970s starring in horror films and soft-core sex comedies (with a few dramas mixed in); starring in movies that appeal to teenaged boys and juvenile men is sort of like working with children....

Among Corrigan's horror films are "The Devil's Nightmare", "Dr. Jekyll and the Werewolf", and "Crimes of the Black Cat".

Corrigan left the movie business in 1982 after appearing in 24 films. She returned to the stage, and works as an actress and model to this day. She also volunteers with children, which would get an approving nod from Mother Teresa.

Saturday Scream Queen: Patty Shepard

In 1963, at the age of 18, Patty Shepard moved from North Carolina to Spain where she swiftly found success as a model and actress. During the 1970s, she appeared in a string of thrillers and horror films along side the likes of Paul Naschy, Helga Line, and Erika Blanc while the eerie aura of mystery she brought to her these roles allowed her to carve out her own place in the pantheon of European B-horror movie stars.

In addition to her horror roles, Shepard was featured in westerns, comedies, sci-fi... probably every genre you can think of.

During the 1980s, Shepard's output slowed, and she retired from acting in 1988 after making two final horror movies--"Edge of the Axe" and "Slugs".

Shepard currently lives in Madrid, Spain, with her husband of nearly 45 years.

Saturday Scream Queen: Charisma Carpenter

In celebration of July Fourth, Independence Day in the United States of America, I present a special Monday Scream Queen.

Charisma Carpenter was working as a cheerleader for the San Diego Chargers when she turned to acting. After landing a few commercials and bit parts, and recurring parts in television series "Josh Kirby: Time Warrior" and "Malibu Shores", she was cast as Cordelia, the social nemesis and eventual friend of teenaged vampire slayer, Buffy in the long-running series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". She also potrayed the character on the spin-off series "Angel".

After playing Cordelia from 1996 to 2004, Carpenter has gone on to star in made-for-television horror movies, such as "Voodoo Moon" (2006) and "House of Bones (2010), both for the Syfy Channel, in addition to extended guest-shots on series "Charmed" and "Strange Frequency".

Most recently, Carpenter has starred in a couple of chillers for the big screen--"Psychosis" in 2010 and "Crash Site". which is scheduled to hit theaters in next month, August 2011.

Carpenter's current slate of films consists entirely of horror movies in various stages of production, with "The Human Factor" in pre-production and "A Trusted Man" and "Deadly Sibling Rivalry" in post-production and slated for release late this year. Carpenter plays twin sisters in that last film, one good and one evil.

Saturday Scream Queen: Shannon Elizabeth

Shannon Elizabeth is a model turned actress--a common career path for Scream Queens. Her first professional acting jobs were bit parts on television, but her first major role was in "Jack Frost" where her character was killed off in what will surely forever be a unique scene in film history: She was raped to death by a killer snowman.

Although best known for her role as Nadia in the first two "American Pie" films, Elizabeth's resume is peppered with horror flicks, including the horror spoof "Scary Movie", remakes "13 Ghosts" and "Night of the Demons" and retro-chillers "You Belong to Me" and "Cursed."

Saturday Scream Queen: Joanna Pettet

A British-born actress, raised in Canada and trained in New York City, Joanna Pettet had a long and busy career, stretching from the early 1960s through the mid-1990s, appearing in TV shows and films of just abput every mainstream genre. Horror roles of note include multiple appearances on "Rod Seling's Night Gallery" series, "Welcome to Arrow Beach", and a great starring turn in haunted house chiller "The Evil" during the 1970s.

Pettet's last horror movie appearance in 1983's "Double Exposure," one of those films with a cast better than the material deserved. As the 1980s wore on, she kept busy with recurring roles in television drama series and multiple guest-shots on "Fantasy Island" and "Love Boat", but parts where she had even the smallest chance to show her talent became fewer and farther between.

In 1995, Pettet retired from acting after her only child died from a fatal heroine overdose.

Pettet was one of the many talented actresses who throughout her career got roles that called for her to primarily just look beautiful rather than act. As a result, she is one those people whose face we recognize when we see it on the screen, but can't put a name to. In the end, her greatest claim to fame has become that she was one of the last people to see pregnant actress Sharon Tate alive, visiting with Tate on the afternoon before the Manson Family brutally murdered her on August 8, 1968.

Saturday Scream Queen: Trisha Escheverria

Trisha Escheverria is a Toronto-based model-turned-actress and up-and-coming Scream Queen. Her first starring role was as the title character in the 2010 horror film "Mary", and she's followed that up with the leads in the made-for-TV sci-fi horror film "The Mystic" and the upcoming haunted Quiji flick "The Unleashed".

"The Unleashed" will receive its world premiere at the Queen Elizabeth Theater in Toronto on June 25. Click here for more information and to watch the film's trailer. The film received wide release on August 7, although as of this writing, only Canadian screening locations have been announced.

Saturday Scream Queen: Jacqueline Pearce

Jacqueline Pearce's distinctive face and attractive figure were regularly featured on British television from the mid-1960s through the late 1990s. She is best known for her role as the villainous Servalan on the dark space opera series "Blake's Seven", but she also apeared in numerous horror series, such as "Shadows", "Leap in the Dark", and "Dead of Night".

Although her career was mostly spent on television, in 1966 Pearce appeared in two of the most Gothic horror films from the venerable Hammer Studios, "Plague of the Zombies" (as a victim of the evil zombie master) and in "The Reptile" (as the mysterious daughter of a nobleman tortured by the past).

Pearce retired from acting in 2007 and moved to South Africa to take care of orphaned vervet monkeys. (Hey, someone's gotta do it!)

Saturday Scream Queen: Anita Ekberg

Anita Ekberg's show-business career began with her being crowned "Miss Sweden" in 1950 at the age of 19. She subsequently spent a few years in Hollywood as a model and playing bit-parts in RKO and Universal films. It wasn't until she returned to Europe in the late 1950s that her movie career took off, and she spent the next three decades in numerous starring or supporting roles in almost every conceivable film genre.

Most of Ekberg's horror roles came in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In some, she was perfectly cast, like in "The French Sex Murders" where she is supremely creepy; but in others she couldn't have been more miscast, such as "Fangs of the Living Dead" where she is too old to be playing a supposedly wide-eyed, naive girl.

Ekberg retired from acting in 2002.

Saturday Scream Queen: Nicole Kidman

Although born to Austrailian parents, and an Australian national, Nicole Kidman was actually born in Hawaii and spent her earliest years in Washington, D.C. She broke into film at the age of 16, and, after gaining much acclaim in the Australian films "Bush Christmas" and "BMX Bandits," her career swung into an upward trajectory that brought her back to the United States and Hollywood and to the status as an international movie superstar.

Kidman has appearing in chillers since her very first role--the Australian TV movie "Chase Through the Night" in 1983)--and her first film for the international market and an American studio was "Dead Calm".

Kidman has some 50 movies to her name, and close to half of those are dark thrillers, horror films, or comedies that include supernatural elements. Foremost among these are the aforementioned "Dead Calm (1989), To Die For (1995), "Practical Magic" (1998), "The Others" (2001) and "Bewitched" (2005).

Kidman has four movie projects in varying stages of production, with "Tresspass" (slated for release early this fall) being perhaps the closest thing to a horror movie among then. Kidman stars as a woman being held hostage with her husband (played by Nicolas Cage).

Saturday Scream Queen: Erika Blanc

Born in 1943, Italian actress Erika Blanc's career spans four decades--with her debut taking place in 1963 and her most recent movie appearing in Italian theaters in 2010--and every virtually every existing film genre.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Blanc starred in literally dozens of Italian and German horror films, ranging in quality from Mario Bava's excellent "Kill, Baby, Kill!" to Emilio Marigilia's excrement "The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave". Her output slowed a bit during the 1980s and 1990s, but she continued to be a familiar face in European horror films and thrillers. From 2002 through 2008, she was a regular cast member of the Italian detective show "Carabineri".

At 68 years old, Blanc remains a popular and respected actress in her home country of Italy. In the rest of the world, she ties with Helga Line as the most memorable redheaded Scream Queen of the 1960s and 1970s.

Saturday Scream Queen: Jamie-Lynn Sigler

Best known for her role in the acclaimed television series "The Sopranos", Jamie-Lynn Sigler's acting debut was in regional theater productions in New York State at the age of 7. Her career has mostly been divided between the stage and television series, but along the way she has also made half a dozen movies, three of which are independently produced horror films.

Sigler's second film role was in the 2001 anthology picture "Campfire Tales". She was also featured in "Dark Ride"--which was part of the 2005 "After Dark Horror Fest" line-up--and her most recent excursion into the realm of fright pictures was a starring turn in "Beneath the Dark" in 2010.

Born in 1981, Sigler turns 30 this Sunday, May 15.

Saturday Scream Queen: Cheyenne King

Actress and dancer Cheyenne King made her film debut in the independently produced action/horror flick "Fist of the Vampire". She went onto star in three other indie horror movies, including the just-released "Wendigo: Bound by Blood", as well as the recently completed comedy "Scamalot".

King is a Native American of Ojibwe heritage and she is very active in that community.

Saturday Scream Queen: Isabelle Stephen

Isabelle Stephen is, without a doubt, a model subject for this series. Not only is she literally a photo model, but since her film debut in 2002, she has appeared in over 20 features and short films, all low-budget efforts, mostly very gory, and all of them horror.

Based in Montreal, Canadian actress Stephen has worked mostly with directors based in and around New York City and New Jersey, including such infamous filmmakers as Bill Zebub and Lloyd Kaufman. Her characters rarely (if ever) make it through the films alive, and her death in Kaufman's anthology film "Tales form the Crapper" was particularly gruesome--where she was raped to death by a giant penis monster.

Stephen's most recent role is a small part in Steve Sessions' forthcoming black magic horror-fest "Sinister," debuting May 3 on DVD. (Watch this space for a review.)