Scream Queen Impact
Shawnee Smith finally “made it” as a star in the Saw franchise….at least according to Saw fans. The fact of the matter, though, is that Ms. Smith was not only already a popular actress, she was also a veteran of horror including appearances in two popular television series based upon Stephen King properties and the star of the 1988 remake of The Blob. Not only that, Smith managed to find the time to be a cast member on two successful sitcoms and had multiple guest appearances on shows like The X-Files, Silver Spoons, Cagney & Lacey, and Murder, She Wrote.
Ms. Smith’s career is now in the beginning of its fifth decade. Her credits begin as “Dancer” in 1982’s Annie and include seventy-one credits as an actress up to and including the series City on Fire where she’ll be playing a character named “Ramona.” Her most recognized role is Amanda Young from the Saw film franchise but she also appeared in the popular Ted Danson sitcom, Becker, as ditzy Linda and portrayed Charlie Sheen’s ex-wife, Jennifer, in the post-Two And A Half Men Sheen sitcom, Anger Management. She also appeared in numerous films, most notably Who’s Harry Crumb? alongside John Candy and two television mini-series based upon Stephen King’s books The Stand and The Shining. She only appeared in one episode of The Shining, but had a feature role in The Stand.
Despite such a long and continuous career on screens big and small, Smith seems to have managed to remain fairly unknown outside of certain circles. I first fell in love with her in The Blob and have sought her work out ever since that time. Seriously, why did it take people so long to realize just how versatile and amazing Ms. Smith is as an actress? On top of her amazing work as an actress, she’s also performed in the country rock duo Smith & Pyle, a band she formed with fellow actress Missi Pyle. She was also in the punk band Fydolla Ho and is currently working on a solo project.
As far as horror films go, you can’t beat Smith in The Blob and in the Saw franchise. I also highly recommend checking her out on Becker and Anger Management. She plays four completely different characters in these productions. Smith is an extremely underrated actor in my opinion and hopefully she’ll get a little more recognition in the near future.
I hope that you enjoyed this look at one of my favorite actresses who, for some odd reason, has never really been catapulted into stardom despite her amazing career. Thanks for reading my post!
Ken's Alternate Universe! 