Cheryl Lynn "Rainbeaux" Smith (June 6, 1955 – October 25, 2002) was an American actress and musician who appeared in a number of mainstream features,

exploitation Exploitation may refer to: *Exploitation of natural resources *Exploitation of labour ** Forced labour *Exploitation colonialism *Slavery ** Sexual slavery and other forms *Oppression *Psychological manipulation In arts and entertainment *Exploi ...

and

horror films Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoc ...

throughout the 1970s and 1980s. She made her feature debut as lead in the major supernatural horror film ''

Lemora ''Lemora'' is a 1973 American horror film written and directed by Richard Blackburn, and starring Cheryl Smith, Hy Pyke, and Lesley Gilb. It follows a young girl in Prohibition-era America who travels to a mysterious town to visit her father, and ...

'' (1973), followed by ''

Caged Heat ''Caged Heat'', also known as ''Renegade Girls'', is a 1974 women in prison film. It was written and directed by Jonathan Demme (in his directorial debut) for New World Pictures, headed by Roger Corman. The film stars Juanita Brown, Roberta Coll ...

'' (1974), '' Massacre at Central High'' (1976), and ''

Slumber Party '57 ''Slumber Party '57'' is a 1976 American comedy-drama film directed by William A. Levey and starring Debra Winger in her feature film debut. Cast *Janet Wood as Smitty *Noelle North as Angie *Bridget Holloman as Bonnie May * Debra Winger as Deb ...

'' (1976) (

Debra Winger Debra Lynn Wingerhttps://www.pressreader.com/usa/closer-weekly/20200511/282084868951188https://www.discountmags.com/magazine/closer-weekly-may-11-2020-digital/in-this-issue/99961 (born May 16, 1955)https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Inter ...

's debut film). She had the title role in

Michael Pataki Michael Pataki (January 16, 1938 – April 15, 2010) was an American actor. Early life Pataki was born in Youngstown, Ohio. His parents were Hungarians. He was the youngest of three children - one older brother and one older sister. He atten ...

's musical comedy ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'' (1977).

Career

Smith was born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Her first film appearance was in the short ''The Birth of Aphrodite'' after a friend of her mother suggested her for the role. This led to supporting roles in other films, including the cult classic

B-movies A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...

'', ''

Phantom of the Paradise ''Phantom of the Paradise'' is a 1974 American rock musical comedy horror film written and directed by Brian De Palma and scored by and starring Paul Williams. In the film, a naïve young singer-songwriter (played by William Finley) is tricked ...

'', '' The Swinging Cheerleaders'', ''Revenge of the Cheerleaders'', ''The Pom-Pom Girls'', ''

The Incredible Melting Man ''The Incredible Melting Man'' is a 1977 American Science fiction film, science fiction horror film directed and written by William Sachs. The plot concerns an astronaut whose body begins to melt after he is exposed to radiation during a space fl ...

'', ''

Laserblast ''Laserblast'' is a 1978 American science fiction film about an unhappy teenage loner who discovers an alien laser cannon and goes on a murderous rampage, seeking revenge against those who he feels have wronged him. The extremely low-budget film ...

'' and a cameo role in '' Cheech and Chong's Up in Smoke''. Perhaps her most striking role in a major release was in a violent bedroom scene opposite a near unknown Sylvester Stallone in the 1975 version of the

Philip Marlowe Philip Marlowe () is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler, who was characteristic of the hardboiled crime fiction genre. The hardboiled crime fiction genre originated in the 1920s, notably in ''Black Mask'' magazine, in which Dashie ...

classic ''

Farewell, My Lovely ''Farewell, My Lovely'' is a novel by Raymond Chandler, published in 1940, the second novel he wrote featuring the Los Angeles private eye Philip Marlowe. It was adapted for the screen three times and was also adapted for the stage and rad ...

'', starring

Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...

. Her starring debut was in the cult-horror film ''

'' and her greatest success came as the titular character in ''

'' (1977). An accomplished musician and artist, Smith was briefly associated with

The Runaways The Runaways were an all-female American rock band who recorded and performed from 1975 to 1979. The band released four studio albums and one live album during its run. Among their best-known songs are " Cherry Bomb", "Hollywood", "Queens of ...

during the production of the motion picture ''We're All Crazy Now'', after Sandy West and

Lita Ford Lita Rossana Ford (born 19 September 1958) is an English-born American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. She was the lead guitarist for the all-female rock band the Runaways in the late 1970s, before embarking on a successful glam metal sol ...

quit the group in pre-production. An impromptu group was created on the spot, casting Smith through her counsel Stann Findelle and Runaways manager Toby Mamis. The group was fronted by

Joan Jett Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin, September 22, 1958) is an American singer, guitarist, record producer, and actress. Jett is best known for her work as the frontwoman of her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and for earlier founding and per ...

with Smith on the drums as "Sandy". She briefly continued playing drums for Joan Jett after that band's breakup. Smith cut an album with a band known as the "L.A. Girls" as the drummer and lead singer. In 1980, Smith was among the performers who collaborated with record producer

Jack Nitzsche Bernard Alfred "Jack" Nitzsche ( '; April 22, 1937 – August 25, 2000) was an American musician, arranger, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He first came to prominence in the early 1960s as the right-hand-man of producer Phil Spec ...

on the original soundtrack for the

William Friedkin William "Billy" Friedkin (born August 29, 1935)Biskind, p. 200. is an American film and television director, producer and screenwriter closely identified with the " New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s. Beginning his career in documentaries in ...

film, '' Cruising''. Smith contributed a spoken-word performance of her song, "Sure" for producer and writer

Harvey Kubernik Harvey Kubernik (born February 26, 1951) is an American author, journalist and music historian. From the mid 1970s, he wrote for music publications such as '' Melody Maker'', ''Los Angeles Free Press'', ''Crawdaddy!'' and '' Phonograph Record''. ...

's 1982 album, "Voices Of The Angels", which also featured performances by

Charles Bukowski Henry Charles Bukowski ( ; born Heinrich Karl Bukowski, ; August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was a German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambience of his adopted ...

and

Danny Sugerman Daniel Stephen Sugerman (October 11, 1954 – January 5, 2005) was the second manager of the Los Angeles-based rock band the Doors. He wrote several books about Jim Morrison and the Doors, including ''No One Here Gets Out Alive'' (co-authored with ...

. She was once a ''

Penthouse Penthouse most often refers to: *Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building *Penthouse (magazine), ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine *Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly u ...

'' Pet of the Month. Smith maintained a modeling career and sat for noted photographers

Ron Raffaelli Ron Raffaelli (September 20, 1943 – November 7, 2016) was an American photographer known for his documenting rock music icons in the 1960s and 1970s, such as Jimi Hendrix, for whom Raffaelli acted as official photographer in 1968. Raffaelli is ...

and Jan Deen, as well as commercial fashion photographers. She had a relationship and lived with Glenn Willis, and lived with Ethan Margalith when he founded Starving Students Moving Company. Smith also had relationships with professional musicians Phil Lee, John Sterling (with whom she had a son, Justin), and

Brett Smiley Brett Smiley (September 25, 1955 – January 8, 2016)G ...

Death

Cheryl Smith died in the early morning hours on October 25, 2002 of complications from

liver disease Liver disease, or hepatic disease, is any of many diseases of the liver. If long-lasting it is termed chronic liver disease. Although the diseases differ in detail, liver diseases often have features in common. Signs and symptoms Some of the si ...

and

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes ( jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal ...

after being addicted for two decades to heroin.

Discography

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Rainbeaux Actresses from Los Angeles American film actresses American television actresses Deaths from hepatitis 1955 births 2002 deaths Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) American rock drummers American women drummers Deaths from liver disease Infectious disease deaths in California 20th-century American drummers 20th-century American women musicians 20th-century American actresses