Kristy Swanson (born December 19, 1969) is an American actress. She is best recognized for having played Buffy Summers in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer and appeared in the 1996 film The Phantom.
Her first starring role was in Wes Craven's horror film Deadly Friend (1986), followed by her portrayal of Catherine "Cathy" Dollanganger in the 1987 film adaptation of V. C. Andrews's Flowers in the Attic (1987). Swanson also starred in several films, including Hot Shots! (1991), Mannequin Two: On the Move (1991), The Program (1993), The Chase (1994), 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag (1997), Big Daddy (1999), and Dude, Where's My Car? (2000), and appeared in Pretty in Pink (1986) and Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986).
Early life
Swanson was born in South Laguna, California at the South Coast Community Hospital and was raised in Mission Viejo, California by her parents Rosemary Albrecht and Robert Russell Swanson, a high school teacher. At the age of nine, she expressed interest in acting to her parents, and began pursuing roles in television commercials. She landed her first job appearing in a doll house commercial, which was followed with several more commercial appearances.
By 1990, Swanson had made many television appearances, including multiple appearances in Knots Landing (1987–1988), Nightingales (1989), her first starring role in a television series, although it only lasted a season, and a short-lived Burt Reynolds television series called B.L. Stryker (1989).
Throughout the 1990s, she starred mostly in films. She played the title role in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Although not a hit at the box office originally, it had a profitable rental life. She appeared in both starring and supporting roles in films such as Hot Shots!, The Program, The Chase, and her most critically acclaimed role, playing Kristen Connor, a student discovering her sexuality, in John Singleton's Higher Learning. She also appeared in the film adaptation of the comic-book The Phantom and the dark comedy 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag with Joe Pesci. Most of these films failed at the box office, and she reverted to television work in the late 1990s.
In the 1998–99 season of Early Edition, Swanson played Erica Paget, a love interest of the main character, Gary Hobson. In 1999, Swanson played Vanessa, the ex-girlfriend of Adam Sandler in the film Big Daddy. In 2000, she returned to a television series, as the star of Grapevine, a revamp of a 1992 TV series that was canceled after five episodes. The same year, she starred in the successful film Dude, Where's My Car?, alongside Ashton Kutcher, Seann William Scott and Jennifer Garner.
Swanson posed nude for Playboy magazine in November 2002 in a cover-featured pictorial. She appeared in and won in the 2006 Fox television program Skating with Celebrities, partnered with Lloyd Eisler.
In 2007, she became a spokesperson of the Medifast diet. In the following year, she guest-starred in three episodes of the lesbian web series 3Way. In the same year, she appeared in an episode Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
In 2021, a release date of June 15 was announced for Swanson's recent feature and a Jennifer Nichole Lee and Paul Schneider collaboration, Just Another Dream. She co-starred alongside long-time friend Dean Cain.
Personal life
Swanson married her Skating with Celebrities partner Lloyd Eisler in 2009. They have a son, and two children from his previous marriage.
Swanson has described herself as "a proud republican" and "#MAGA since 1969". Swanson has said that she received death threats as a result.
| Megan Mills
| TV movie
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| Beethoven's Treasure Tail
| Anne Parker
| Video
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| A Belle For Christmas
| Daniella Downy
|
|-
| Merry Ex-Mas
| Noelle
| TV movie
|-
|rowspan=2| 2015
| Driven Underground
| Sarah Palmer
| TV movie
|-
| Angels in the Snow
| Judith Montgomery
| TV movie
|-
|rowspan=2| 2017
| Crowning Jules
| Victoria
|
|-
| A Mother's Sacrifice
| Kathrin
| TV movie
|-
|rowspan=4| 2018
| Bad Stepmother
| Louise
| TV movie
|-
| Winter's Dream
| Kat Miller
| TV movie
|-
| Killer Under the Bed
| Sarah
|
|-
| Mimesis Nosferatu
| Max's Mother
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| 2019
| PupParazzi
| Latte (voice)
|
|-
|rowspan=2| 2020
| Psych 2: Lassie Come Home
| Marlowe Viccellio
| TV movie
|-
| The ObamaGate Movie
| Lisa Page
|
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|rowspan=3| 2021
| Trafficked: A Parent's Worst Nightmare
| Joanna Riley
|
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| Courting Mom and Dad
| Sarah Lambert
|
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| Just Another Dream
| Cindy Miller
|
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
| 1984
| It's Your Move
| Laura
| Episode: "Love Letters"
|-
|rowspan=2| 1985
| Call to Glory
| Sally
| Episodes: "JFK: Parts 1 & 2"
|-
| Cagney & Lacey
| Stephanie Brandon
| Episode: "On the Street"
|-
|rowspan=3| 1986
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents
| Female Student #2
| Episode: "The Gloating Place"
|-
| Disneyland
| Jennifer Davis
| Episode: "Mr. Boogedy"
|-
| '
| Linda Perkins
| Episode: "The Big Fix-Up"
|-
| 1987
| Growing Pains
| Rhonda
| Episode: "Thank God It's Friday"
|-
| 1987–1988
| Knots Landing
| Jody Campbell
| Recurring Cast: Season 9
|-
| 1988
| Ohara
| Jennifer Collins
| Episode: "X"
|-
|rowspan=2| 1989
| Nightingales
| Rebecca "Becky" Granger
| Main Cast
|-
| B.L. Stryker
| Lynn Ellingsworth
| Recurring Cast: Season 1
|-
| 1998–1999
| Early Edition
| Erica Paget
| Main Cast: Season 3
|-
| 1999
| The Directors
| Herself
| Episode: "The Films of Wes Craven"
|-
| 2000
| Grapevine
| Susan Crawford
| Main Cast
|-
|rowspan=2| 2002
| Backstory
| Herself
| Episode: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
|-
| I Love the '80s
| Herself
| Episode: "1986"
|-
|rowspan=2| 2003
| The Christopher Lowell Show
| Herself
| Episode: "Small Spaces"
|-
| Just Shoot Me!
| Allison Cavanaugh
| Episode: "There's Something About Allison"
|-
| 2004
| CSI: Miami
| Roxanne Price
| Episode: "Complications"
|-
| 2006
| Skating with Celebrities
| Herself
| Main Cast
|-
| 2007
| Law & Order: Criminal Intent
| Lorelai Mailer
| Episode: "Bombshell"
|-
| 2008
| 3Way
| Leslie Lapdalulu
| Recurring Cast
|-
|rowspan=3| 2009
| Whatever Happened To?
| Herself
| Episode: "Unlikely Heroes"
|-
| Hell's Kitchen
| Herself
| Guest Cast: Season 5-6
|-
| American Chopper
| Herself
| Episode: "Iraq Star Foundation Bike"
|-
| 2010
| One Tree Hill
| Woman in Car
| Episode: "Don't You Forget About Me" .
|-
| 2011
| Comedy Central Roast
| Herself
| Episode: "Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen"
|-
| 2011–2014
| Psych
| Marlowe Viccellio
| Recurring Cast: Season 6-8
|-
| 2012
| unCONventional
| Herself
| Recurring Cast
|-
| 2018
| Gutfeld!
| Herself/Guest Panelist
| Episode: "August 4, 2018"
|-
| 2019
| SEAL Team
| Julia Logan
| Recurring Cast: Season 4
|-
| 2022
| Sons of Thunder
| Linda Gibson
| Main Cast: Season 2
|}
Music videos
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Song
! Artist
! Role
|-
| 1992
| "Keep It Comin' (Dance Till You Can't Dance No More)"
| C+C Music Factory featuring Q-Unique and Deborah Cooper
| Buffy Summers
|-
| 2017
| "Yours If You Want It"
| Rascal Flatts
| Stacy
|}
Awards and nominations
Wins
- 1989: Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress in a Horror or Mystery Motion PictureFlowers in the Attic
- 2019: Independent Women's Forum Annual Award GalaResilience Award
Nominations
- 2021: Royal Starr Film Festival for Best Feature FilmJust Another Dream
- 2012: Movieguide Awards for Most Inspirational Television ActingA Christmas Wish
- 2011: Movieguide Awards for Most Inspiring Movie ActingWhat If...
- 1992: Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best ActressBuffy the Vampire Slayer
- 1988: Young Artist Award for Best Young Female Superstar in Motion PicturesDeadly Friend
- 1987: Young Artist Award for Exceptional Young Actress Starring in a Television Special or Movie of the WeekMr. Boogedy
- 1986: Young Artist Award for Best Young ActressGuest in a Television SeriesCagney & Lacey episode "On the Street"