Lisa Marie

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:
IMDB Filmography