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Chandra K. West (born December 31, 1970) is a Canadian actress.


Early life and education

West was born in
Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
,
Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, the youngest of eight children. The family moved to
Oak Bay, British Columbia Oak Bay is a municipality incorporated in 1906 that is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is one of thirteen member municipalities of the Capital Regional District, and is bordered ...
, where she attended Monterey Elementary for three years. The family moved to
Oakville, Ontario Oakville is a town in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Lake Ontario between Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton. At its Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census population of 213,759, it is List of tow ...
, where West spent the majority of her youth. When she was 17, West attended a summer acting camp located in
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, England. She later went on to study in the Theater Performance Program at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec.


Career

West's career began in 1991 when she played a small part in the film '' True Confections'', a 1950s conservative drama about a woman with an ahead-of-her-time awareness. West followed her screen debut with a smaller role in the 1993 miniseries ''The Secrets of Lake Success''. West appeared in three consecutive films; the first as the female-lead in ''
Puppet Master 4 ''Puppet Master 4'' is a 1993 direct-to-video horror film written by Charles Band among others, and directed by Jeff Burr. It is the fourth film in the ''Puppet Master'' franchise, a sequel to 1991's '' Puppet Master III'', and stars Gordon Curr ...
'' (1993), then a smaller role as Miss Germany in the action film ''
No Contest ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant neith ...
'' (1994) also starring
Robert Davi Robert John Davi (born 1953) is an American actor, singer and filmmaker. Over the course of his acting career, Davi has performed in more than 130 films. Among his most known roles are opera-singing heavy Jake Fratelli in ''The Goonies'' (1985), ...
and
Roddy Piper Roderick George Toombs (April 17, 1954 – July 31, 2015), better known as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, was a Canadian professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and actor. In professional wrestling, Piper was best known to international audiences for hi ...
, and in the same year, reprising her role as Susie in '' Puppet Master 5: The Final Chapter'' (1994). The closing months of 1994 and most of 1995 saw West return to television with appearances in '' Madonna: Innocence Lost'' (1994), ''
Catwalk A fashion show ( French ''défilé de mode'') is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase their upcoming line of clothing and/or accessories during a fashion week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the Spring/Summer and Fa ...
'' (1995), ''Falling for You'' (1995) and the role of
Mariel Hemingway Mariel Hadley Hemingway (born November 22, 1961) is an American actress. She began acting at age 14 with a Golden Globe-nominated breakout role in ''Lipstick'' (1976), and she received Academy and BAFTA Award nominations for her performance in ...
in '' Love and Betrayal: The Mia Farrow Story'' (1995). Her other film roles of the late 1990s include Veronica Roberts in '' Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms'' (1998) and '' Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business'' (1998). Her film breakthrough came when she starred as
Val Kilmer Val Edward Kilmer (born December 31, 1959) is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer found fame after appearances in comedy films, starting with ''Top Secret!'' (1984) and ''Real Genius'' (1985), as well as the military action film ...
's wife in the 2002
D. J. Caruso Daniel John Caruso Jr. (; born January 17, 1965) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His work encompasses a variety of genres, including thriller ('' Disturbia, Taking Lives''), drama ('' Standing Up''), horror (''The Disap ...
crime thriller, '' The Salton Sea''. Following the moderate success of ''The Salton Sea'', West was exposed to a wider market. This role helped her obtain the role of Robin in ''
The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest ''The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest'' is a 2002 film based on the novel of the same name by technology-culture writer Po Bronson. The film stars Adam Garcia and Rosario Dawson. The screenplay was written by Jon Favreau and Gary Tieche. ...
'', which was panned critically and deemed a major disappointment despite an all-star cast that included
Rosario Dawson Rosario Isabel Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress. She made her feature-film debut in the 1995 independent drama ''Kids''. Her subsequent film roles include '' He Got Game'' (1998), ''Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001), ''Men in Bl ...
and Adam Garcia and a script penned by
Jon Favreau Jonathan Kolia Favreau (; born October 19, 1966) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Favreau has appeared in films such as ''Rudy (film), Rudy'' (1993), ''PCU (film), PCU'' (1994), ''Swingers (1996 film), Swingers'' (1996), ''Very ...
. Her next role was as Laura Chandler in the
Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
-nominated mini-series ''
Mister Sterling ''Mister Sterling'' is an American serial drama television series created by Lawrence O'Donnell for NBC. The series ran from January 10 to March 14, 2003. Starring Josh Brolin as an idealistic United States Senator, the series featured Audra McDo ...
'' (2003). From 2003-2004 she portrayed Dr. Jennifer Devlin, girlfriend of John Clark Jr. (
Mark-Paul Gosselaar Mark-Paul Harry Gosselaar (; born March 1, 1974) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles, most notably as Zack Morris in ''Saved by the Bell''. In 1991, he won a Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor Starring in an Off-Pri ...
) in a recurring role on
NYPD Blue ''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble c ...
. She played the wife of
Michael Keaton Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor. He is known for his various comedic and dramatic film roles, including Jack Butler in ''Mr. Mom'' (1983), Betelgeuse in ''Beetlejuice'' ( ...
in the 2005 horror film ''
White Noise In signal processing, white noise is a random signal having equal intensity at different frequencies, giving it a constant power spectral density. The term is used, with this or similar meanings, in many scientific and technical disciplines, ...
''. She also played novice agent
Holly Gribbs ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' featured an extensive range of minor characters in addition to its main cast. The American procedural forensics crime drama television series ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015. Spanning 15 s ...
in the pilot of ''
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...
'' in 2000. West's more recent performances were in the film ''Canes'' (later retitled ''The Covenant: Brotherhood of Evil''), which also starred
Edward Furlong Edward Walter Furlong (born August 2, 1977) is an American actor. He won Saturn and MTV Movie Awards for his breakthrough performance at age 13 as John Connor in James Cameron's '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day''; which was followed by a mini-seq ...
and
Michael Madsen Michael Søren Madsen (born September 25, 1957) is an American actor. He has starred in many films and television series, frequently collaborating with director Quentin Tarantino, most famously in the latter's debut film ''Reservoir Dogs'' (19 ...
, and as Tina Blake in the HBO series ''
John From Cincinnati ''John from Cincinnati'' is an American drama television series, set against the surfing community of Imperial Beach, California. It aired on HBO from June 10 to August 12, 2007. Overview ''John from Cincinnati'' is the result of a collaborativ ...
''. In 2006, West played the lead character Tracy in the film ''
The Last Trimester ''The Last Trimester'' is a 2006 made-for-TV movie starring Chandra West, Jim Thorburn, Matthew Harrison and Lara Gilchrist. Plot Tracy ( Chandra West) and Eric Smythe (Jim Thorburn) are a happily married couple who find it difficult to have c ...
''. In 2007 she played "Dr. Honey" in the movie ''
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry ''I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry'' (also simply known as ''Chuck & Larry'') is a 2007 American buddy comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan. It stars Adam Sandler and Kevin James as the title characters Chuck and Larry, respectively, two New Yo ...
''. In 2009, she starred as the object of a revenge seeking neighbor in the TV movie ''My Neighbor's Secret''. West had a lead role in the
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
supernatural drama television series ''
The Gates ''The Gates'' were a group of gates comprising a site-specific work of art by Bulgarian artist Christo Yavacheff and French artist Jeanne-Claude, known jointly as Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The artists installed 7,503 vinyl "gates" along of ...
'', which premiered in June 2010. In 2011, she appeared in the made-for-TV movie '' Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe'', based on the television series ''
Burn Notice ''Burn Notice'' is an American espionage television series created by Matt Nix, which originally aired on the USA Network for a total of seven seasons from June 28, 2007, to September 12, 2013. The show stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, ...
''.


Filmography


Film


Television


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:West, Chandra 1970 births Actresses from Edmonton Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses Living people People from Oakville, Ontario