Katt Shea
Katt Shea (b 1957) is an American actor, director and teacher best known for the film Poison Ivy (1992).
Biography
Shea was born in Detroit Michigan, and studied teaching at the University of Michigan.
"I was directing plays I'd written in my back yard when I was twelve," she said later. "I was a total misfit and didn't have any friends, so that's what I did instead. I recruited younger kids from the neighborhood, and their parents paid me to put them in my productions. I made some pretty good money, actually. Helped put me through college. Yay for being a misfit! Yay for not having friends!"[1]
She taught blind children in Detroit before decided at age 19 to move to Los Angeles and try acting. She worked as an actor and model for a number of years, including appearing in a small role in Scarface and Psycho III.[2][3]
"I was never comfortable being an actress," she said in a 1992 interview. "It was the most ridiculous thing; I am like the antithesis of that. I really, truly am very shy. ... I did it for seven years, and I can't believe I lived through that."[4]
In 1986 she was on location in the Philippines when she struck up a friendship with Andy Ruben. The two of them started writing scripts together, and succeeded in getting The Patriot (1986) made for Roger Corman. Corman agreed to finance another Ruben-Shea script with Shea directing, Stripped to Kill. The resulting movie was successful and launched her directorial career.[3]
Shea made a number of films for Corman based on scripts by herself and Ruben. Corman later described her as a "”talented director. She’s particularly good with actors, having been an actress herself. She’s taught herself about the camera and has gotten better with each picture.” [5]
In 1992 her films were honoured with a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art.[6]
She now works as an acting teacher.
Select credits
- The Asphalt Cowboy (1980) - actor
- My Tutor (1983) - actor
- Scarface (1983) - actor
- Preppies (1984) (TV movie) - actor
- R.S.V.P. (1984) (TV movie) - actor
- Hollywood Hot Tubs (1984) - actor
- Barbarian Queen (1985) - actor
- Psycho III (1986) - actor
- The Devastator (1986) - actor, 2nd unit photography
- The Patriot (1986) - writer
- Stripped to Kill (1987) - writer, director
- Dance of the Damned (1989) - director, writer
- Stripped to Kill II: Live Girls (1989) - director, writer
- Streets (1990) - director, writer
- Poison Ivy (1992) - director, writer
- Dance with Death (1992) - story
- Joe Bob's Drive-In Theater (1994) (TV series) - director
- Last Exit to Earth (1996) - director, actor, writer
- Rumble in the Streets (1996) - writer
- The Rage: Carrie 2 (1998) - director, actor
- Sharing The Secret (2001) (TV movie) - director
- Sanctuary (2002) (TV movie) - director, writer
Unmade projects
- Dance of the Damned (c 2011) - proposed remake of her earlier film[7]
- The Tutor - adapted from the novel by Peter Abrahams
- The List - a teen drama based on her own script
- Hystere, Imps of Perversity - horror anthology TV series developed with Mary Lambert[8]
References
- ↑ Conversation with Katt Shea, Full Circle Magazine February 2009 accessed 21 April 2015
- ↑ Chris Nashawaty, Crab Monsters, Teenage Cavemen and Candy Stripe Nurses - Roger Corman: King of the B Movie, Abrams, 2013 p 195-196
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Director Katt Shea talks about her 1980's Roger Corman produced films" TV Store Online 3 Feb 2015 accessed 21 April 2015
- ↑ Donald Porter, Interview with Katt Shea, June 1992 republished at The Occasional Critic Blog
- ↑ "Roger Corman's proteges -- A look at the new batch of mainstream movie makers, from Curtis Hanson to Katt Shea" by Tim Purtell Entertainment Weekly 17 Jan 2015 accessed 23 April 2015
- ↑ "Katt in the Director's Chair" By Rob Nelson City Pages Mar 17 1999 accessed 23 April 2015
- ↑
- ↑ Katt Shea Biography at Katt Shea
External links
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