At one time it looked like Lisa Marie would become the ultimate
Tim Burton regular, appearing in four of his films in a row.
She first met Burton at a New Years Eve party in 1991, and
they later became engaged. It was the beginning of a personal
and professional collaboration between two kindred spirits.
But it wasn't to be a fairytale ending for the couple.
Lisa Marie (her last name is Smith) grew up in New Jersey,
raised by her father and grandparents. Her grandmother died
when Lisa Marie was five, and she spent many years attending
Catholic school and taking care of the day-to-day chores around
the house. She set off for New York City when she was fifteen
(or sixteen, depending on which account you believe). She
modeled for Calvin Klein and Robert Mapplethorpe. She appeared
in Let's Get Lost, a 1988 documentary on the life of
jazz trumpeter Chet Baker. She also had a small role in one
of Woody Allen's lesser films, 1990's Alice.
Burton first cast her in 1994's Ed Wood. She portrayed
Vampira, the host of countless late-night television horror
fests. It was to be the only role in a Burton movie that afforded
her any major dialogue.
In Mars Attacks!, she had the distinction of being
the only human to portray a Martian. Disguised as a freakish
prostitute, she is able to gain access to the White House
for an assassination attempt. It required seven hours of costuming
and make-up every day. She had to be sewn into her dress,
and had to wear an ungainly wig/headpiece. The Martian Girl's
stylized walk was choreographed by Dan Kamin. He worked with
Robert Downey Jr. to perfect his portrayal of silent film
comedian Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin, and with Johnny
Depp for his mimicry of Buster Keaton in Benny and Joon.
For Sleepy Hollow, Lisa Marie again played a silent
role, Ichabod Crane's mother, who he dreams about, remembering
her brutal death at the hands of his father. Burton seemed
to take a perverse thrill in forcing her to endure horrible
deaths in his films--here, she's tortured and killed inside
an iron maiden.
Lisa Marie played an ape in Burton's next film, his reimagining
of Planet Of The Apes. As well as undergoing heavy
makeup, she had to attend "Ape School" to learn
to act like an ape. It was to be their last collaboration.
Shortly after the couple announced they were splitting up.
Since then Lisa Marie has been mostly absent from the screen,
though she did briefly host the TV series Exposure.
Arran McDermott and Mike Jackson 2005
Links:
Maxim
Profile
IMDB
Filmography
