Helen Rachel Slater (born December 15, 1963 in Bethpage, New York) is an American actress, singer and songwriter.
She was the first actress to play Supergirl in live action, in the eponymous 1984 film. She went on to star in films such as Ruthless People, The Secret of My Success and City Slickers.
She also played in television productions and stage projects, including the voice of Talia al Ghul in Batman: The Animated Series and three guest appearances as Lara-El on Smallville (2007–2010). She was a series regular for the two-season run (2011–2013) on the ABC Family series The Lying Game and ended up playing Eliza Danvers in the Supergirl series.
In the 2000s, Slater recorded five albums, singing her own compositions and playing the piano.
Filmography with TV Tropes pages:
- Another World (1982) as Suzie
- Supergirl (1984) as Kara Zor-El / Linda Lee / Supergirl
- The Legend of Billie Jean (1985) as Billie Jean
- Ruthless People (1986) as Sandy Kessler
- The Secret of My Success (1987) as Christy Wills
- City Slickers (1991) as Bonnie Rayburn
- The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible (1992) as Queen Esther (voice)
- Seinfeld (1992) as Becky Gelke
- Dream On (1992) as Sarah
- Batman: The Animated Series (1992-94) as Talia al Ghul (voice)
- Lassie (1994) as Laura Turner
- Caroline in the City (1997) as Cassandra Thompson
- Will & Grace (2001) as Peggy Truman
- Boston Public (2003) as Mrs. McNeal
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2004) as Susan Coyle
- Grey's Anatomy (2005) as Nadia Shelton
- The New Adventures of Old Christine (2006) as Liz
- Crossing Jordan (2007) as Elaine Tallridge
- Smallville (2007, 2010) as Lara-El
- Supernatural (2009) as Susan Carter
- Eleventh Hour (2009) as Susan Wynne
- Greek (2009) as Magda Stephanopoulos
- Gigantic (2010-11) as Jennifer Brooks
- CSI: NY (2010) as Elizabeth Harris
- Private Practice (2011) as Erin George
- Drop Dead Diva (2011) as Penny Brecker
- The Lying Game (2011-13) as Kristin Mercer
- Caper (2014) as Luke's Mom
- The Young and the Restless (2014) as Dr. Chiverton
- Mad Men (2015) as Sheila
- DC Super Hero Girls (2015-16) as Martha Kent (voice)
- Supergirl (2015-21) as Eliza Danvers
- Agent X (2015) as Helen Eckhart
Tropes applying to her works:
- Billing Displacement: In Supergirl, Faye Dunaway is billed before her, continuing the Superman movie tradition of billing the villain's actor before the hero's.
- …But I Play One on TV: She and Christian Slater played brother and sister in The Legend of Billie Jean, and the same last name led to many assuming they were related in real life. She frequently has to tell fans they aren't at conventions.
- The Cast Show Off: She sings in the movies Happy Together and Lassie.
- Casting Gag: As with many actors from DC Comics adaptations, she got to appear in several DC-inspired works after the Supergirl movie, namely Batman: The Animated Series, Smallville, Supergirl (the TV series), and DC Super Hero Girls .
- Dark Horse Casting: She was cast as Supergirl because producers wanted an unknown, just as Christopher Reeve had been.
- Dye Hard: Naturally dark-haired, Slater dyed her hair blonde to play Supergirl in 1984 and hasn't looked back since.
- Dyeing for Your Art:
- She had long hair when she did The Legend of Billie Jean and it was cut short when the character has an Important Haircut. She didn't do it herself though; a professional hairdresser did.
- She had to gain 20 lbs to play Supergirl.
- Hollywood Hype Machine: Back in the '80s she found herself getting a big push. It started with Supergirl, which was unfortunately a flop. Her next project was The Legend of Billie Jean, which she hoped would be her breakout role, but it ended up another flop (it did later get a cult following from TV airings however). She did have notable successes in Ruthless People, The Secret of My Success and City Slickers but work seemed to dry up in the 90s. While she's still working away, she's still best known as the first Supergirl, and her most recent high profile work is usually something that acknowledges this (such as Smallville or Supergirl (2015)).
- I Am Not Spock: Despite a lengthy resume in TV and film, a lot of her roles evoke Supergirl in some way.
- Wag the Director: The haircut in The Legend of Billie Jean was meant to be much shorter, and close to a shaved head, taking inspiration from The Passion of Joan of Arc that Billie Jean watches before cutting it. The makeover was also supposed to include lots of glitter and colourful eye makeup. Helen refused to cut her hair so short or wear the eye makeup, so they settled on a longer pixie. Some scenes were shot before this, where extras playing Billie Jean's fans can be seen wearing the planned eye makeup.
