Sean Young

Sean Young
Young at the 2007 Jules Verne Adventure Film Special Awards Presentation
Born	Sean Mary Young November 20, 1959 (1959-11-20) (age 49) Louisville, Kentucky
Years active	1980–present
Spouse(s)	Robert Lujan (1990–2002) (divorced) 2 children

Sean Young (born November 20, 1959) is an American actress, best known for her performance in films in the 1980s such as Blade Runner and No Way Out.

Early life

Young was born as Mary Young in Louisville, Kentucky, the daughter of Lee Guthrie, a screenwriter, public relations executive, and journalist, and Donald Young, a television news producer and journalist.^[1] She attended Cleveland Heights High School in Cleveland Heights, Ohio and then transferred to and graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan.^[2] She has also attended the School of American Ballet in New York.^[3] Before becoming an actress, Young worked as a model and dancer.^[3]

Film career

1980s

Young began her film career in 1980 in the film Jane Austen in Manhattan, followed by a small role in the 1981 film Stripes, and played female lead in the part of a replicant opposite Harrison Ford in the futuristic classic Blade Runner (1982).^[4] She had a small role in the film Wall Street as the wife of Michael Douglas' character. Her role was originally intended to be larger, but was significantly reduced due to clashes with Oliver Stone.^[5][6]

One of her most prominent roles was as the mistress of a ruthless Washington politician in 1987's No Way Out, playing opposite Kevin Costner. Other notable credits include Dune, Fatal Instinct, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend.^[4]

In 1988, Young appeared in The Boost with James Woods. Woods later sued her for harassing both him and his then-fiancée, alleging that Young left a disfigured doll on his doorstep in addition to other disruptive behavior. Young denied the allegations and claimed that Woods filed the lawsuit out of spite. Young stated, "It was a crush being turned down, that's all.... So sue me! And he [Woods] did." The suit was settled out of court in 1989.^[5]

She was cast by as Vicki Vale in Tim Burton's 1989 successful film Batman. During rehearsals, however, she broke her arm after falling off a horse and was replaced by Kim Basinger. In an unsuccessful attempt to win the role as Catwoman (which ultimately went to Michelle Pfeiffer) in the sequel Batman Returns, Young constructed a homemade Catwoman costume and attempted to confront Burton and actor Michael Keaton during production.^[5]

1990s

Young was fired from the 1990 movie Dick Tracy. Cast as Tess Trueheart, she was officially fired for not appearing maternal in the role. Young later claimed she was fired because she rebuffed Warren Beatty's advances, a claim Beatty denies.^[5] During most of the 1990s she resided in Sedona, Arizona, and her career cooled.^[5]

2000s

Since 2000, Young has appeared in a variety of independent films and guest appearances on television, including roles in Poor White Trash, "Mockingbird Don't Sing", Sugar & Spice, Boston Public, and Reno 911!^[4] In 2005, she spent four months in Russia filming the miniseries Esenin, in which she played dancer Isadora Duncan.^[7]

In late 2007, Young finished work on two films, The Man Who Came Back and Haunted Echoes.

Sean is part of the cast of CMT's Gone Country 2.

Personal life

In 1990, Young married Robert Lujan, with whom she has two children, Rio Kelly and Quinn Lee.^[1] The couple divorced in 2002.^[5]

On May 10, 2008, Young competed with Mikalah Gordon, Irene Cara, Sebastian Bach, Jermaine Jackson, Lorenzo Lamas, and Chris Kirkpatrick in a celebrity demolition derby at the Henry County Fairgrounds in Paris, Tennessee for an upcoming second season episode of Gone Country on Country Music Television. Young went on to win the celebrity derby "heat" and then went on to go against professional demolition derby drivers. Young and 21 other drivers squared off in the area. Young finished in fourth place against the professional demolition derby drivers.^[8]

In January 2008, Young checked herself into rehab for alcohol abuse the day after an outburst at the Directors Guild of America awards in Los Angeles. Young was removed from the awards ceremony after repeatedly heckling director Julian Schnabel, who was on stage giving his remarks regarding his Best Director nomination for his work on the film, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.^[9][10][11]

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Razzie Awards

• Won: Worst Actress, A Kiss Before Dying (1992)
• Nominated: Worst Actress, Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde (1995)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sean Young

• Sean Young at the Internet Movie Database
• Sean Young at TV.com