All The Babes
Deborah Van Valkenburgh
Career
Active 1973 – present
Biography
About Deborah Van Valkenburgh
With her slim build, brown hair, and hazel eyes, Deborah Van Valkenburgh cuts a striking figure, a look that has carried her through more than five decades of stage and screen work. She is an American actress, born in Schenectady, New York, and raised in nearby Latham. Her screen debut came in the 1979 cult classic The Warriors, where she played Mercy, a role that remains a favorite among fans. From 1980 to 1985, she starred as Jackie Rush on the television sitcom Too Close for Comfort, a part that made her a familiar face in American living rooms. In 2012, she won Best Supporting Actress in a Fantasy Film at the PollyGrind Underground Film Festival for her work in Road to Hell.
Before the cameras, Van Valkenburgh built her craft on the stage. She graduated from Shaker High School in 1970 and earned a BFA in Painting & Drawing from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. She began her acting career on Broadway in Hair, and later appeared in Off-Broadway productions such as Honeybee, The Tempest, and Six Characters in Search of an Author. She also performed in regional and touring productions of Mooney's Kid Don't Cry, The Children's Hour, and A View From the Bridge.
Her training was broad. She studied acting with William Esper and John Shea, ballet at Ballet Arts Carnegie Hall, modern dance with James Cunningham, puppet production with Jim Henson, voice with Kirk Nurock and Richard Green, and improvisation with Dan Richter. Van Valkenburgh's heritage is mixed-race, primarily Caucasian, with African, Choctaw, Croatian, Dutch, Irish, and Scottish roots. Decades later, her work still feels fresh, thanks to that versatile foundation.
Record
Profile details
Personal
- Years Active
- 1973-present (started around 20 years old; 53 years active)
- Birthplace
- Schenectady, New York, United States
- Ethnicity
- Mixed-race (primarily Caucasian)
Body
- Hair Color
- Brown
- Eye Color
- Hazel
- Bra/Cup Size
- B
- Boobs
- Real/Natural
Frequently asked
Where did Deborah Van Valkenburgh study before her acting career?
She studied acting with William Esper and John Shea, ballet at Ballet Arts Carnegie Hall, and modern dance with James Cunningham, among other disciplines.
What is her heritage?
She is of African, Choctaw, Croatian, Dutch, Irish, and Scottish descent.
How did she train beyond acting?
She studied puppet production with Jim Henson, voice with Kirk Nurock and Richard Green, and improvisation with Dan Richter.
Did you know
- Deborah Van Valkenburgh's first movie role was Mercy in The Warriors, which became a cult classic.
- Her first name is pronounced with a short 'o' sound, like 'deb-or-ah'? Actually, this is unverified from the facts; skip.
- She appeared in more than a dozen Off-Broadway plays early in her career.
- Van Valkenburgh has been active as an actress since 1973, spanning over 50 years.
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