| Leslie Graves | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 29, 1959 Silver City, New Mexico, US |
| Died | August 23, 1995 (aged 35) |
| Ethnicity | Caucasian |
| Height | 4 ft 11 in (1.50 m) |
| Spouse | Jerry Schoenkopf |
Leslie Marie Graves (September 29, 1959 in Silver City, New Mexico – August 23, 1995 in Los Angeles area) was an American actress. She died in 1995 from an AIDS-related illness.
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Leslie Graves's father, Michael Graves, was a theatre actor and introduced her very early in entertainment industry, when she was approximately at age of 10. So she started her career with a small role in a Broadway play "A Cry of Players" (1968–1969) written by William Gibson, and then moved to acting for TV series: Sesame Street (1969, first 13 episodes), The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1971, in the episode titled "Baby Sit-Com"), Here We Go Again (1973), and some uncredited commercials.
In late '70s, she left Hollywood, allegedly to move with a boyfriend to Texas, where she worked on a shrimp boat for three years.[1]
Leslie Graves's comeback to Hollywood in early 1980 was marked by some nude photos (OUI Magazine, a Playboy corporation affiliate, tributed her the honour of the cover and photo shoot by Phillip Dixon in November 1980 and again in May 1981 a photo shoot by five photographers).
At that time some rumors about her involvement with Penthouse publisher, Bob Guccione, and an argument with Playboy publisher, Hugh Hefner, arose, as reported in specialised entertainment business magazines[1] and books.[2]
As she started to be noticed, she had small roles in two slasher movies: Piranha: the Spawning (1981) and Death Wish II (1982).
This helped her to grow artistically, so she apparently found her way to success when CBS in 1982 cast her, at 23, in the role of Brenda Clegg in the daytime soap Capitol.
On the set she found in Carolyn Jones a sort of second, supportive mother. When Carolyn died, Leslie was devastated, entering depression[2]
In late summer 1984, Leslie left the CBS show due to a serious drug problem and a heroin overdose, even if her being replaced on the set was masked as a stress overload.
Her last public appearance was a nude photo shoot by Jean Rougeron published in the October 1984 issue of OUI Magazine.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Mary Tyler Moore | Dee Dee | TV series |
| 1973 | Here We Go Again | Cindy Standish | TV series |
| 1981 | Piranha II: The Spawning | Allison Dumont | Direced by James Cameron |
| 1982 | Death Wish 2 | Nirvana's Girl #2 | |
| 1982-84 | Capitol | Brenda Clegg #1 | TV series |
Leslie Graves was married and had two children.
On August 23, 1995 she died of an AIDS-related illness.