PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Adrienne Barbeau, one of horror cinema’s most beloved scream queens, will be honored next month with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York City Horror Film Festival. She will be the first woman to receive the distinction. Previous honorees include Sean S. Cunningham, Robert Englund, Wes Craven, George A. Romero, Roger Corman, Tobe Hooper and Tom Savini.
Adrienne Barbeau got her start on television in the early 1970’s working as Carol Traynor on the sitcom Maude. She also made a number of cameo appearances on television throughout the 1970’s, including stints on The Love Boat, Eight Is Enough and Quincy, M.E. A poster of Adrienne wearing lingerie became a best seller in 1978. The image would serve as the cover for her autobiography nearly 30 years later.
Adrienne Barbeau married director John Carpenter in January 1979 after the two met on the set of his 1978 TV movie SOMEONE’S WATCHING ME! Barbeau went on to appear in Carpenter’s THE FOG in 1980 and ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK in 1981. Did you know she even provided the Chess computer’s voice in John Carpenter’s THE THING in 1982? The Chess computer was the only female character in the entire film.
Barbeau’s status as a scream queen was solidified in 1982 with memorable roles in SWAMP THING and CREEPSHOW. Her marriage to John Carpenter ended in 1984, but her horror roles continued on both the big and small screens. Adrienne appeared in an episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE and the film TERROR AT LONDON BRIDGE in 1985.
In the 1990’s, Adrienne Barbeau found steady voice acting work, playing Catwoman in Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond and Gotham Girls. She also loaned her voice talents to a variety of video games, including Marvel Ultimate Alliance, God of War III and Batman: Arkham Asylum.
Barbeau’s autobiography There Are Worse Things I Could Do was published in 2006. It charted at #11 on the Los Angeles Times bestsellers list. In July 2008, her first novel, Vampyres of Hollywood, was published with co-author Michael Scott. She penned a sequel, Love Bites, in 2010 and a follow-up novel in the series, Make Me Dead in 2015.
Adrienne Barbeau’s achievements as an actress and an author certainly make her a worthy recipient of this lifetime achievement award. As for the “lifetime” part, at age 71, Barbeau shows no signs of slowing down. According to IMDB, she has no less than 8 film projects in the works for release later this year and in 2017. Congratulations, Adrienne!
For more information about Adrienne Barbeau, you can visit her official website at www.abarbeau.com and follow her on Twitter at @abarbeau.
The New York City Horror Film Festival is America’s largest and most recognized genre film festival. Established in 2001, the NYCHFF is a four-day long event that takes place each November, screening approximately 50-60 films each year. For more information, visit www.nychorrorfest.com.
