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Compared to other Scream Queens on this list, many folks unfamiliar with the work of Barbara Crampton might write her off as a horror starlet. When you dig deeper into her seventy-three credits in film and television, you’ll quickly realize that Crampton is not only an iconic Scream Queen, she’s also an accomplished soap opera actress. She’s been nominated for multiple awards in both horror and for her performances in numerous soap operas. In short, Crampton takes on roles based on quality, not quantity. She’s comfortable playing the hero, the villain, and the psycho in film and on television.
Crampton has been acting since 1983, when she received her first credit portraying Trista Evans on the daytime soap Days Of Our Lives. She appeared eighty-three episodes over the course of two years. Her first film role was in the erotic thriller Body Double (1984) that starred Melanie Griffith. I have a special connection to that film that I’ll share later in this post. Crampton continued working in both film and television throughout the 80’s and 90’s. Her biggest role on television came as Leanna Love on The Young And The Restless. It was a role that she would portray off and on throughout both decades and into the early 2000’s. She also had lengthy roles in The Bold And The Beautiful and Guiding Light. In addition to these roles, Crampton also appeared as a guest star on a number of popular television shows like The Nanny and Pacific Blue.
While her career blossomed on television, Crampton also made waves on the big screen in horror films, sex comedies, and science fiction films. She is perhaps best known for her roles in Re-Animator (1985), Chopping Mall (1986), and Trancers II (1991) during her early career. As Crampton grew older, she began taking on more roles as a villain in horror films and motherly roles in other films and did so with amazing success. Some of her biggest roles since the beginning of the 2000’s were in films like Little Sister (2016), We Are Still Here (2015), Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich (2018), and Jakob’s Wife (2021).
As a kid, one of my earliest crushes was Barbara Crampton. I fell in love with her as the psychotic Leanna Love on The Young And The Restless. This was in 1987 and, at the time, I was completely unaware of her work in films like Body Double and Re-Animator even though both of those movies came out a few years prior to her role as Leanna. Still, I tried to follow Crampton’s career as best as I could as a kid growing up in rural Louisiana pre-internet. Within a year of falling in love with Crampton as Leanna, I saw her in Body Double. It was a shock to my still developing mind. Not only was Crampton one of the the first women that I saw nude in a film, she was the first woman that I recognized from another role that I saw nude in a film. Then a friend of mine with cable introduced me to her appearance in Re-Animator. I was raised to not look at such things (nudity in film) but as an 80’s kid with friends who had access to cable, it was inevitable that I would run across a naked lady sooner or later. It was weird to me because I didn’t dare tell my mom, who also loved the character of Leanna, that Crampton not only did nude scenes, but sex scenes as well. To this day I haven’t told her and I’m pretty sure that she is still unaware of the “dirty” movies that Crampton appeared in throughout her career.
I still love Barbara Crampton and I still have a crush on her. Hopefully I will get the chance to meet her at a convention one day and tell her how I’m still afraid to tell my mother that I saw Leanna Love in the buff! Crampton doesn’t do many nude scenes today, but she is no less gorgeous. In fact, she pretty much looks the same today as she did back in the 80’s. She’s very active on social media and shares tons of pictures of her day-to-day life and any projects that she is working on at the moment.
Crampton deserves more recognition for her work. She’s a wonderful actress who easily transitions from soap opera star to horror goddess. If I had to pick specific films of hers to watch, I’d recommend Jakob’s Wife, Re-Animator, and Chopping Mall. To be completely honest, I haven’t watched a film in which she gave a bad performance. She’s the consummate professional and it shows in her work.
Thanks for checking out today’s post! Tomorrow I will reveal the Final Girl, the Ultimate Scream Queen! Do you know who she is? Let me know in the comments and find out tomorrow if you’re correct!
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