- Born
- Height5′ 4″ (1.63 m)
- Barbara Crampton was born in Levittown, New York. Growing up in Vermont, she spent the majority of her childhood summers traveling the country with a roadside carnival that her father worked for. Crampton began acting in school plays in seventh grade and subsequently studied drama in high school. She earned a BA in Theater Arts from Castleton State College and, following graduation, portrayed "Cordelia" in an American Theater of Actors production of "King Lear" in New York.
The young actress then moved to Los Angeles and, in 1983, made her TV debut with a recurring role on the popular daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives (1965). The following year she had a brief, but memorable role in Brian De Palma's Body Double (1984), which was followed by the 1985 comedy Fraternity Vacation (1985). Barbara achieved enduring cult popularity as college coed Megan Halsey in Stuart Gordon's Re-Animator (1985) and, after making a splash in the horror genre, successively starred in From Beyond (1986), Chopping Mall (1986), 13 Nights of Elvira: Puppet Master (1989), and Castle Freak (1995), among others.
Outside of horror, Barbara had recurring roles on daytime television soap operas The Guiding Light (1952); The Bold and the Beautiful (1987), and The Young and the Restless (1973), for which won a Soap Opera Digest Award.
Years after retiring from acting to raise a family, Crampton returned to film in 2011 with a role in Adam Wingard's You're Next (2011). She subsequently appeared in number of new films, the majority of which were horror. Highlights of her return include The Lords of Salem (2012), We Are Still Here (2015), and Beyond the Gates (2016).
Crampton's hobbies include skiing, yoga, horseback riding, running, working out with weights, and shopping for antiques at flea markets. She lives outside of San Francisco with her husband, Robert Bleckman, and their two children.- IMDb Mini Biography By: anonymous - Barbara Crampton's career as an iconic figure in the horror/thriller genre has spanned 4 decades and continues to gain momentum. She recently produced and co-starred with Heather Graham in the horror thriller "Suitable Flesh." Immediately prior, Barbara completed producing and starring in "Jakob's Wife." Other recently completed features include "Run Hide Fight" with Thomas Jane and Treat Williams, "King Knight" with Aubrey Plaza and Matthew Gray Gubler, "Superhost" with Gracie Gillam, Sara Canning and Osric Chau, and "Sacrifice," a thriller shot in Norway. Earlier she starred in and produced "Beyond the Gates," which won best horror feature in its debut at LA Film Fest.
Earlier this year Barbara appeared in "Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls" at Sundance. Upcoming appearances include Larry Fessenden's new film "Blackout," and the thriller "Last Stop in Yuma County."
For television, Barbara guest starred on the last season of "Channel Zero: The Dream Door" (Syfy). Soon after she starred in an episode of the highly acclaimed series "Into the Dark: Culture Shock" (Blumhouse / Hulu). Barbara guest starred on season 2 of "Creepshow" from Greg Nicotero on Shudder.
Barbara writes a column for Fangoria magazine entitled "Scene Queen," for which she won two "Rondo Hatton Horror Awards" in 2020 and 2021.
Acknowledging her body of work, Barbara has received 5 Lifetime Achievement awards at festivals around the world for her contributions to the horror genre including one at Morbido in Mexico City and at the prestigious Sitges Festival, just outside Barcelona, Spain.
Barbara made her film debut in 1984's "Body Double." The cult classic "Re-Animator," in which Barbara portrayed the leading role of Megan Halsey, continues to be a huge fan favorite. Other films Crampton has starred in include: "From Beyond," the original and remake of "Puppet Master," "You're Next," and "We Are Still Here." She won a Soap Opera Digest award for her portrayal of the maniacal character Leanna Love, during her six years on "The Young and the Restless."
Born in a suburb of New York City and raised in Vermont, Barbara started appearing in school plays when she was a young girl and went on to study acting in school. Her father worked for carnivals and she grew up spending summers traveling with them. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater Arts from Castleton University, Barbara made a brief stop in New York where she appeared as Cordelia in King Lear for the American Theater of Actors, then moved to LA to commence her TV and film career.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Silver J Management
- SpousesRobert Bleckman(December 3, 2000 - present) (2 children)David Boyd(October 1, 1988 - 1990) (divorced)
- Children
- Has appeared in five adaptions of H.P. Lovecraft's stories: Re-Animator (1985), From Beyond (1986), Castle Freak (1995), The Evil Clergyman (2012), and Suitable Flesh (2023).
- Graduated from Rutland Senior High School in Rutland, Vermont in 1977.
- Was engaged to actor/director Kristoffer Tabori
- Has two children by her husband Robert Bleckman. Their names are Olivia and Luke.
- I like a man who is a real man. No mambi pambi bullshit. A man of few words and big action. Intelligent and who can make me laugh.
- [on women's roles in horror films] What you don't see often enough in horror films are smart and capable women. A lot of horror movies appeal to men and they're written by men, so it's kind of what men want to see. They're written from the male point of view. I think in life we have this issue and in films we have the issue where the women are not as often in control. Men are more in control and art imitates life, so we see that more and more in the movies. It's probably representative of where women are right now and where they're going.
- Today, these young filmmakers I'm working with, it seems all important to get your film edited and ready so you can submit it to one of the big genre film festivals where distributors go and watch and look for their new products, and it just seems like a wonderful way for people to share their products, meet other people, and collaborate and find out information about this movie, that movie. You know, the word of mouth about all of these other movies that are in production is so visible now with the aid of social media and Twitter and Facebook.
- Everybody knows what everybody's doing and the [horror] community today is much more in tune with one another. In the 80's, I just knew the people I was working with on a film set. I didn't know a director unless I was working with him, but know I've met these young directors at film festivals and karaoke in LA and bowling parties. It just seems that there is a whole community now, and they're so supportive of one another and so collaborative.
- [on acting in modern horror films] I just think it's fantastic. I'm enjoying my time now working in it more than I did in the 80's! I felt like I was just doing my little acting job, coming and doing it, and then we'd get a review by Roger Ebert or Pauline Kael and that was it. Now I met all the reviewers at the film festivals! It's just much more of an exciting, artistic community that is really collaborative, so I think it's really exciting now. I'm just jazzed to be back and hanging out with all of these young people.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content