Lori Singer is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Ariel Moore, the female lead in the 1984 feature film

Feature film

In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...

 Footloose, and as Julie Miller in the television series Fame

Fame (1982 TV series)

Fame is an American television series originally produced between 1982 and 1987. The show was based on the 1980 motion picture of the same name. Using a mixture of drama and music, it followed the lives of the students and faculty at the New York City High School for the Performing Arts. Although...

.

Film and television career

Singer first came to fame when she was cast as cellist Julie Miller, one of The Kids from "Fame"

The Kids from "Fame"

The Kids from "Fame" was the group name of several cast members from the US TV series Fame who had a number of hit singles and albums at the height of the show's success in the UK. This success culminated in tours of the UK where they performed live in concert...

, in the TV series

Television program

A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...

 Fame

Fame (1982 TV series)

Fame is an American television series originally produced between 1982 and 1987. The show was based on the 1980 motion picture of the same name. Using a mixture of drama and music, it followed the lives of the students and faculty at the New York City High School for the Performing Arts. Although...

. She portrayed a cellist in a part that was created for her. After starring as Ariel Moore, the female lead in Footloose, she starred in a number of other movies, including The Falcon and the Snowman

The Falcon and the Snowman

The Falcon and the Snowman is a 1985 film directed by John Schlesinger about two young American men, Christopher Boyce and Daulton Lee , who sold U.S. security secrets to the Soviet Union...

(directed by John Schlesinger

John Schlesinger

John Richard Schlesinger, CBE was an English film and stage director and actor.-Early life:Schlesinger was born in London into a middle-class Jewish family, the son of Winifred Henrietta and Bernard Edward Schlesinger, a physician...

 and starring Sean Penn

Sean Penn

Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...

), and The Man with One Red Shoe

The Man with One Red Shoe

The Man With One Red Shoe is a 1985 comedy film directed by Stan Dragoti. It is a remake of a 1972 French film Le Grand Blond avec une chaussure noire starring Pierre Richard and Mireille Darc...

(with Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks

Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...

). Her role in Trouble in Mind

Trouble in Mind (film)

Trouble in Mind is a 1985 neo-noir film which follows an ex-cop just released from jail after serving time for a murder sentence as he returns to the mean streets of the fictional "Rain City"....

led to her nomination for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead

Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead

The Film Independent's Spirit Award for Best Female Lead is one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards.-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...

.

Singer has also had roles in Equinox

Equinox (film)

Equinox is a 1970 American horror film. Originally made in 1967 under the title The Equinox... A Journey into the Supernatural it was directed by Dennis Muren, and stars Edward Connell as Dave, Barbara Hewitt as Susan Turner Frank Bonner as Jim Hudson and award-winning science fiction/horror writer...

, Summer Heat

Summer Heat

Summer Heat is a film directed by Michie Gleason, with a screenplay by Michie Gleason based on the novel Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail by Louise Shivers.-Cast:*Lori Singer as Roxy*Anthony Edwards as Aaron*Bruce Abbott as Jack Ruffin...

, Warlock

Warlock (1989 film)

Warlock is a 1989 American cult horror film directed by Steve Miner, written by David Twohy and produced by Roger Corman. It was also produced by New World Pictures and distributed by Trimark Pictures. The cast includes Julian Sands, Lori Singer, and Richard E. Grant...

, Sunset Grill

Sunset Grill (film)

Sunset Grill is a 1993 neo-noir mystery film starring Peter Weller as a private detective in Los Angeles. The movie co-stars Lori Singer and Stacy Keach, and was directed by Kevin Connor.- Plot :...

, F.T.W.

F.T.W. (film)

F.T.W. is a 1994 film about Frank T. Wells, an ex-con rodeo rider who becomes involved with a woman who's a bank robber on the run.- Plot :...

, and the Robert Altman

Robert Altman

Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...

 film Short Cuts

Short Cuts

Short Cuts is a 1993 American drama film directed by Robert Altman. Filmed from a screenplay by Robert Altman and Frank Barhydt, it is inspired by nine short stories and a poem by Raymond Carver...

. In 1995, she played Sydney Bloom, the lead character in the science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 TV series VR.5

VR.5

VR.5 was an American television program. It was broadcast on the Fox network from March 10 to May 12, 1995. Of the 13 episodes that were produced, only 10 aired during its original run.-Premise:...

. In addition to her acting, she produced Summer Heat and was involved in the creative conception of VR.5.

In 1986, Singer was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her role of Georgia in Trouble in Mind. She, and the rest of the actors in Short Cuts, won awards for best ensemble cast at the 50th Venice International Film Festival

50th Venice International Film Festival

The 50th Venice International Film Festival was held on 31 August - 11 September 1993.-Jury:*Peter Weir *Mohamed Camara*Carla Gravina*James Ivory*Kaige Chen*Nelson Pereira dos Santos*Abdulah Sidran*Giuseppe Tornatore-Awards:*Golden Lion:...

 and the 51st Golden Globe Awards

51st Golden Globe Awards

The 51st Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television for 1993, were held on January 22, 1994 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.-Best Actor - Drama: Tom Hanks - Philadelphia...

. She also won Newcomer of the Year at ShoWest for her role in Born Beautiful.

On May 4, 2011, Singer returned to television with a guest starring role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...

.

Musical life and career

Singer was born in Corpus Christi, Texas. She grew up in a musical family: her father, Jacques Singer

Jacques Singer

Jacques Singer was an American conductor. His father was the symphony conductor Mark Eli , his mother Rachela “Rose” .-Education:...

, was a famous conductor and protégé of Leopold Stokowski

Leopold Stokowski

Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...

, and her mother, Leslie, is a concert pianist. Her brother is the actor Marc Singer

Marc Singer

Marc Singer is a Canadian-born American actor best known for his roles in the Beastmaster film series and as Mike Donovan in the original 1980s TV series V.-Personal life:...

. As a child, she was often around such luminaries as Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein

Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...

. Singer is Jewish.

A Juilliard-trained cellist, she was a student of Leonard Rose

Leonard Rose

Leonard Rose was an American cellist and pedagogue.Rose was born in Washington, D.C., his parents were immigrants from Kiev, Ukraine...

. Singer made her debut as soloist at age thirteen with the Oregon Symphony

Oregon Symphony

The Oregon Symphony is an American orchestra based in Portland, Oregon. Founded as the Portland Symphony Society in 1896, it is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States, and oldest in the Western United States...

. Singer has performed in public on such stages as the Royal Albert Hall

Royal Albert Hall

The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....

 and Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....

. She plays the cello in Short Cuts, Fame, and also in Sarabande, a 1997 short film by Atom Egoyan

Atom Egoyan

Atom Egoyan, OC is a critically acclaimed Armenian-Canadian stage director and film director. Egoyan made his career breakthrough with Exotica...

 that is part of the Inspired by Bach

Inspired by Bach

Inspired by Bach, a Sony Classical and Rhombus Media production as part of Sony Classical celebrates Bach series, presents contemporary cellist Yo-Yo Ma performing the six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello by Johann Sebastian Bach in collaboration with artists from different disciplines, in a set of...

series. Singer performed as soloist at Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....

 in January 2008, premiering a hymn written by Karl Jenkins

Karl Jenkins

-Other works:*Adiemus: Live — live versions of Adiemus music*Palladio *Eloise *Imagined Oceans *The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace...

 in memory of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1982	Born Beautiful	Jodi Belcher	Made-for-TV movie
1982–1983	Fame Fame (1982 TV series) Fame is an American television series originally produced between 1982 and 1987. The show was based on the 1980 motion picture of the same name. Using a mixture of drama and music, it followed the lives of the students and faculty at the New York City High School for the Performing Arts. Although...	Julie Miller	Television series
1984	Footloose	Ariel Moore
1985	The Falcon and the Snowman The Falcon and the Snowman The Falcon and the Snowman is a 1985 film directed by John Schlesinger about two young American men, Christopher Boyce and Daulton Lee , who sold U.S. security secrets to the Soviet Union...	Lana
	The Man with One Red Shoe The Man with One Red Shoe The Man With One Red Shoe is a 1985 comedy film directed by Stan Dragoti. It is a remake of a 1972 French film Le Grand Blond avec une chaussure noire starring Pierre Richard and Mireille Darc...	Maddy
	Trouble in Mind Trouble in Mind (film) Trouble in Mind is a 1985 neo-noir film which follows an ex-cop just released from jail after serving time for a murder sentence as he returns to the mean streets of the fictional "Rain City"....	Georgia
1987	Heartbeat	Filmmaker's wife	Music video
	Made in USA	Annie
	Summer Heat Summer Heat Summer Heat is a film directed by Michie Gleason, with a screenplay by Michie Gleason based on the novel Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail by Louise Shivers.-Cast:*Lori Singer as Roxy*Anthony Edwards as Aaron*Bruce Abbott as Jack Ruffin...	Roxie
1989	Warlock Warlock (1989 film) Warlock is a 1989 American cult horror film directed by Steve Miner, written by David Twohy and produced by Roger Corman. It was also produced by New World Pictures and distributed by Trimark Pictures. The cast includes Julian Sands, Lori Singer, and Richard E. Grant...	Kassandra
1990	American Playhouse American Playhouse American Playhouse is an anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service in the United States.It premiered on January 12, 1982 with The Shady Hill Kidnapping, written and narrated by John Cheever and directed by Paul Bogart...	Therese	Episode: "Sensibility and Sense"
	Storm and Sorrow	Molly Higgins	Made-for-TV movie
1992	Equinox Equinox (1992 film) Equinox is a 1992 film written and directed by Alan Rudolph. It stars Matthew Modine in dual roles, along with Lara Flynn Boyle, Marisa Tomei, Lori Singer and Fred Ward. The film was shot in Minnesota and Utah and is set in the fictional urban city of Empire...	Sharon Ace
1993	Sunset Grill Sunset Grill (film) Sunset Grill is a 1993 neo-noir mystery film starring Peter Weller as a private detective in Los Angeles. The movie co-stars Lori Singer and Stacy Keach, and was directed by Kevin Connor.- Plot :...	Loren
	Short Cuts Short Cuts Short Cuts is a 1993 American drama film directed by Robert Altman. Filmed from a screenplay by Robert Altman and Frank Barhydt, it is inspired by nine short stories and a poem by Raymond Carver...	Zoe Trainer
1994	F.T.W. F.T.W. (film) F.T.W. is a 1994 film about Frank T. Wells, an ex-con rodeo rider who becomes involved with a woman who's a bank robber on the run.- Plot :...	Scarlett Stuart
1995	VR.5 VR.5 VR.5 was an American television program. It was broadcast on the Fox network from March 10 to May 12, 1995. Of the 13 episodes that were produced, only 10 aired during its original run.-Premise:...	Sydney Bloom	Television series
1997	Inspired by Bach Inspired by Bach Inspired by Bach, a Sony Classical and Rhombus Media production as part of Sony Classical celebrates Bach series, presents contemporary cellist Yo-Yo Ma performing the six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello by Johann Sebastian Bach in collaboration with artists from different disciplines, in a set of...	Dr. Angela France	Episode: "Bach Cello Suite #4: Sarabande"
2005	Little Victim	Tracy	Short film
2011	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...	Dede Aston	Television Series (Season 12, Episode 22)

External links