P. J. Soles (born July 17, 1950) is an American actress.
Biography[]
Soles was born Pamela Jayne Hardon in Frankfurt, Germany, to an American mother from New Jersey and a Dutch father. At the time, her father was working for an international insurance company and the family moved all over the world. Soles lived in Casablanca, Morocco, and Maracaibo, Venezuela, where she learned to speak fluent Spanish, and then Brussels, Belgium, where she went to high school at the International School of Brussels. When she was at Briarcliff College, she wanted to become the first woman ambassador to the Soviet Union. This career goal changed when she visited the Actors Studio in New York City.
Career[]
Soles moved to Manhattan and began acting in commercials and modeling for fashion magazines. She was among the hundreds of actors auditioning for Brian De Palma and George Lucas in their joint casting session for Carrie (1976) and Star Wars (1977). She was injured during the filming of Carrie, when a blast from a fire hose during the prom scene ruptured her eardrum. After Carrie, she went to Georgia to film Our Winning Season (1978) and met actor Dennis Quaid. They were married in 1978 in Texas on a dude ranch.
Later that year she played one of the supporting roles in Halloween (1978), as Lynda Van Der Klok, the final victim of the Michael Myers character in the classic horror film. John Carpenter wanted her for his film Halloween after seeing her in Carrie. He wrote the part of Lynda especially for her because of the way she said the word "totally". Soles starred in Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979) with The Ramones and was injured during filming. She has a singing credit for a second version of the title song on the movie's soundtrack.
Soles had roles in two military comedies, 1980's Private Benjamin and as Bill Murray's romantic interest in 1981's Stripes. She is still active as an actress
Personal life[]
She was married to J. Steven Soles during her years in New York, but then made the move to Los Angeles to work in TV and movies. She and Soles were divorced, but she decided to retain her name as P. J. Soles. She was later married to actor Dennis Quaid from 1978 to early 1983. Her third marriage was to Skip Holm, who was the stunt pilot on The Right Stuff (1983). They have a son named Skye (born in 1983) and a daughter named Ashley (born in 1988). She and Holm were divorced in 1998.
Horror filmography[]
Film | Character | Year | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Carrie | Norma Watson | 1976 | |
Halloween | Lynda van der Klok | 1978 | |
Uncle Sam | Madge Cronin | 1996 | |
The Devil's Rejects | Susan | 2005 |