Lolita Davidovich

After a string of bit roles in films (often billed as Lolita David), this attractively sharp-featured Canadian-born player of Serbian parentage gained notice in the title role of Ron Shelton's "Blaze" (1989). As Blaze Starr, Davidovich portrayed the celebrated Louisiana stripper for whose love the married Governor Earl Long (Paul Newman) risked everything. The film's commercial failure, however, slowed down Davidovich's career as a mainstream Hollywood lead. Several parts in offbeat films followed, including a supporting role (replacing an ailing Elizabeth Perkins) in the atypical romantic comedy, "The Object of Beauty" and a lead opposite Tom Hulce in the Soviet-set drama "The Inner Circle/The Projectionist" (both 1991). In 1992, the auburn-haired actress returned to Hollywood as the adulterous wife of a possibly psychotic John Lithgow in Brian De Palma's absurdist thriller "Raising Cain" and appeared in the unsuccessful Steve Martin-vehicle "Leap of Faith". Moving increasingly into popular fare, Davidovich was cast as the hooker girlfriend of cop Wesley Snipes in the tepid crime drama "Boiling Point" (1993) and the other woman in Richard Gere and Sharon Stone's marriage in "Intersection" (1994). She later was featured in Ron Shelton's biopic "Cobb" (also 1994), had a small role as the newly divorced mother of Gaby Hoffman (who grows up to be Demi Moore) in "Now and Then" (1995) and was James Woods' ditsy wife in Jason Alexander's "For Better or Worse" (also 1995). The actress had roles in three diverse comedies released in 1997: the New Age romance "Santa Fe", opposite Gary Cole; the children's adventure "Jungle2Jungle", with Tim Allen and JoBeth Williams; and Paul Schrader's "Touch", with Skeet Ulrich, Christopher Walken and Bridget Fonda.

On the small screen, Davidovich has fared somewhat better. She earned a CableACE Award nomination for her performance as an inmate in "Prison Stories: Women on the Inside" (HBO, 1991). Davidovich also received respectable reviews as the social worker counseling abused children in the award-winning "Indictment: The McMartin Trial" (HBO, 1995), as an FBI agent who befriends an Amish widow (Patty Duke) in "Harvest of Fire" (CBS, 1996) and as a tough-talking woman who isn't what she appears to be in the hostage drama "Deadly Silence" (HBO, 1997).

Davidovich kept her career momentum going with appearances in several made-for-television movies and supporting roles in lesser films, and in 1999 she gathered renewed attention for her supporting work in "Gods and Monsters," the moody, much-heralded biopic of "Frankenstein" director James Whale (Ian McKellan) in which she played the fed-up ex of Whale's studly gardener (Brendan Fraser). She also re-teamed with Shelton for his boxing comedy "Play It to the Bone" (1999) as the road-tripping girlfriend of prizefighter Antonio Banderas; and had a role opposite Russell Crowe in acclaimed TV writer David E. Kelley's big-screen hockey comedy "Mystery, Alaska" (1999), directed by Jay Roach. Davidovich returned to television in 2001 for the well-received NBC miniseries "Steve Martini's The Judge" (based on the bestseller) and other telepics, as well as for a recurring role on the first season of the ratings-challenged CBS C.I.A. drama "The Agency" (2001- ). In 2003, she re-emerged on the big screen for two high-profile projects helmed by her longtime companion Shelton. First up was the intense "Dark Blue," in which she effectively played the long-suffering prison guard wife of Kurt Russell's corrupt Los Angeles detective amid the backdrop of the 1992 Los Angeles riots. She also re-joined Shelton with an appearance in the crime thriller "Hollywood Homicide" opposite Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett.

  • Also Credited As:
    Lolita David
  • Born:
    July 15, 1961 in Ontario, Canada
  • Job Titles:
    Actor
Family
  • Daughter: Valentina Shelton. born in November 1999
Significant Others
  • Husband: Ron Shelton. met when Shelton cast her as the star of Blaze (1989); former minor league baseball player
  • Companion: Ron Shelton. met when Shelton cast her as the star of Blaze (1989)
Education
  • Herbert Berghof Studio, New York, New York
Milestones
  • 1983 First film appearance with a bit part in Class
  • 1989 First lead in a feature, Blaze, as famous 1950s stripper Blaze Starr; began long professional and personal relationship with the film s writer-director Ron Shelton
  • 1991 Appeared as Andie McDowall s gal pal in The Object of Beauty
  • 1992 Cast opposite John Lithgow in Brian DePalma s horror thriller Raising Cain
  • 1992 Starred in the HBO TV-movie, Prison Stories: Women on the Inside ; nominated for a Cable ACE award
  • 1992 Starred opposite Steve Martin in the serio-comic faith-healer themed Leap of Faith
  • 1993 De-ages from dumpy to beautiful as a philanderer s dead wife in the fantasy romance Younger and Younger ; earns the Best Actress Award at the Tokyo Film Festival
  • 1993 Joined Wesley Snipes and Dennis Hopper for the cop thriller Boiling Point
  • 1994 Appeared in second Shelton feature, the baseball biopic Cobb
  • 1994 Played Richard Gere s mistress in the drama Intersection
  • 1995 Featured in the ensemble comedy-drama Now and Then
  • 1997 Had supporting roles in Touch and Jungle2Jungle
  • 1998 Acted in the acclaimed biopic Gods and Monsters
  • 1999 Appeared in the comedies Mystery, Alaska and Shelton s Play It to the Bone
  • 2001 Had recurring role on CBS s C.I.A. drama The Agency
  • 2001 Starred in the NBC miniseries Steve Martini s The Judge , based on the bestselling novel
  • 2001 Starred opposite Stephen Rhea in Showtime s telepic Snow In August
  • 2003 Again joined Shelton for the crime thriller Hollywood Homicide
  • 2003 Re-teamed with Shelton for Dark Blue playing the wife of a corrupt Los Angeles detective
  • 2004 Appeared in several episodes on the first season of the Showtime lesbian-themed television series, The L Word
  • 2007 Co-starred in September Dawn, an independent Western written, directed and produced by Christopher Cain
  • Accepted into the Steppenwolf and Victory Garden Theatres acting workshops
  • Began appearing in episodic TV and TV-movies during the mid-1980s
  • Moved from Canada to Chicago
  • Moved to Los Angeles
  • Played small roles in various films including Adventures in Babysitting and The Big Town (both 1987)
  • Traveled throughout the Far East and Europe

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