Taaffe O'Connell (born May 14, 1951) is an American

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and

publisher Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

, best known by her fans for her performance in cult-classic sci-fi

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

Galaxy of Terror ''Galaxy of Terror'' (originally released as ''Mindwarp: An Infinity of Terror'') is a 1981 American science fiction horror film directed by Bruce D. Clark and produced by Roger Corman through New World Pictures. It stars Edward Albert, Erin ...

''. Her acting career began in the late 1970s and continued uninterrupted through the 1980s. Her career has seen a rebirth after 2000 and has continued to the present day. Apart from acting, O'Connell started and owned the Canoco Publishing Company during the 1990s. Canoco is a Los Angeles–based company produced ''Astro Caster Magazine'', which specialized in casting information and advice for actors and actresses. O'Connell has written numerous articles for the magazine as well as being its owner and publisher.

Life and career

O'Connell was born in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

. O'Connell's early career consisted primarily of TV show appearances (''

Three's Company ''Three's Company'' is an American television sitcom that aired for eight seasons on ABC from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984. Developed by Don Nicholl, Michael Ross and Bernie West, it is based on the British sitcom '' Man About the ...

'', ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marsha ...

'', ''

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

'', ''

Laverne & Shirley ''Laverne & Shirley'' is an American television sitcom that ran for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983. A spin-off of ''Happy Days'', ''Laverne & Shirley'' stars Penny Marshall and Cindy Wi ...

'', ''

Blansky's Beauties ''Blansky's Beauties'' is an American sitcom television series and ostensible spin-off of ''Happy Days'' that aired on ABC from February 12 to June 27, 1977. The main character of the series was introduced on an episode of ''Happy Days'', then ...

''). In 1980 she starred in the slasher cult film '' New Year's Evil''.

Role in ''Galaxy of Terror''

She achieved lasting fame within the B-movie, horror film universe for her role as Dameia in ''

''. Released in 1981, it was the second consecutive horror film she had appeared in, having also appeared in the 1980 film ''New Year's Evil''. O'Connell's place as a

scream queen A scream queen (a wordplay on ''screen queen'') is an actress who is prominent and influential in horror films, either through a notable appearance or recurring roles. Scream king is the equivalent for men. Notable scream queen examples include ...

legend was guaranteed with ''Galaxy of Terror'' due to the unique, bizarre, and exploitative scene in which her character is killed.Femme Fatales Magazine Volume 6, Number 4, October 1997 O'Connell's character, Dameia, like most of the other characters in the film, faces a psychological fear and gets destroyed by it. Instead of just being killed violently, however, Dameia is raped by a giant 12-foot maggot. The sequence was restricted or the movie was banned from cinematic release in several countries for the lewd sexual content of her scene. The graphic nature of the scene (it almost earned the movie an X-rating) has given the film a cult status in the years since its release. As a result of this, O'Connell has had cameo appearances in several other horror films in the 1990s and early 2000s, and B-movie print productions like '' Femme Fatales'' and ''

Fangoria ''Fangoria'' is an internationally distributed American horror film fan magazine, in publication since 1979. It is published four times a year by Fangoria Publishing, LLC and is edited by Phil Nobile Jr. The magazine was originally released i ...

'' have done features on her, the scene, and the film. O'Connell herself has a prominent role in the commentary of the DVD/Blu-ray release, as well as in its companion feature "Tales from the Lumber Yard" which discusses the making of the film.

Recent years

During the 1990s, O'Connell's focus shifted away from acting and into publishing. Her Canoco Publishing Company has continued operations for 20 years, and produces ''Astro Caster Magazine'', a trade magazine which combines traditional casting for actors and actresses with astrological insights and information. More recently, O'Connell has begun taking acting parts in films again. She has appeared in three films, ''Spork'', '' Going Down in LA-LA Land'' and the box-office hit '' The Change-Up''. Her roles in these films have been more comedic than dramatic, similar to her roles on ''

'' and the mid-1980s film ''Hot Chili''.

Filmography

*''

'' (1977, TV Series) – Hillary S. Prentiss *''

CHiPs ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. After the final first-run telecast on NBC in May 1983, the series went into reruns on Sundays fr ...

'' (1979, TV Series) – Crystal *''

The New Adventures of Wonder Woman ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' (1979, TV series) – Val *''

Rocky II ''Rocky II'' is a 1979 American sports drama film written, directed by, and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the direct sequel to ''Rocky'' (1976) and the second installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise. It also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, ...

'' (1979) – Ring Girl (uncredited) *''

The Incredible Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of '' The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book ...

'' (1980, TV Series) – Miss Farber *'' New Year's Evil'' (1980) – Jane *''

'' (1981) – Dameia *'' Caged Fury'' (1983) – Honey *''

Knight Rider ''Knight Rider'' is an American media franchise, entertainment franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The core of ''Knight Rider'' is its three-television series: the original ''Knight Rider (1982 TV series), Knight Rider'' (1982–1986) and sequ ...

'' (1984, TV Series) – Denise Reynolds *'' Hot Chili'' (1985) – Brigitte *''

'' (1990, TV Series) – Honey North *''The Stoneman'' (2002) – Hooker #1 *''Dismembered'' (2003) – Duty Nurse *''Spork'' (2010) – Mrs. Byotch *'' Going Down in LA-LA Land'' (2011) – Job Interviewer *'' The Change-Up'' (2011) – Mona

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnell, Taaffe 1951 births American film actresses American television actresses Living people Actresses from Providence, Rhode Island American publishers (people) 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses