Judith O'Dea

Last updated
Judith O'Dea
Judith O'Dea clutching grave in Night of the Living Dead bw.jpg
O'Dea in Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Born (1945-04-20) April 20, 1945 (age 79)
Occupation Actress
Years active1968-present

Judith O'Dea (born April 20, 1945) is an American actress. She portrayed Barbra in the 1968 George A. Romero classic horror film Night of the Living Dead . [1]

Contents

Career

O'Dea as the catatonic and helpless Barbra in Night of the Living Dead, seen here with Duane Jones Ben giving Barbra slippers in Night of the Living Dead bw.jpg
O'Dea as the catatonic and helpless Barbra in Night of the Living Dead , seen here with Duane Jones

In addition to her signature role, O'Dea has appeared in the television movie The Pirate in the 1970s. She later took a break from acting to focus on raising her family.

In the 2000s, O'Dea returned to acting in several low-budget horror films, including [2] Claustrophobia , October Moon and Women's Studies. [3] She also returned to the Barbra role for Night of the Living Dead: Genesis. [4]

She owns and operates O'Dea Communications, a firm that deals in oral-communications training. [5]

Filmography

YearFilmRoleNotes
1968 Night of the Living Dead Barbra
1978 The Pirate AnnieTV movie
2003 Claustrophobia Alena Gray
2005 October Moon Mrs. Hamilton
2008November SonEmily Hamiltonaka October Moon 2
2009 Timo Rose's BeastBoomer's Mother
2010Women's StudiesSenator Gayle Hamlin
2011Shy of Normal: Tales of New Life ExperiencesActress on TV
2014Hole in the WallAugusta Gein
They Came from the EtherMiss Clara
2015Abandoned DeadDoctor Pamela Myers
2017Safe InsideCrystal Lake

Related Research Articles

<i>Night of the Living Dead</i> 1968 American horror film

Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 American independent horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, written by Romero and John Russo, produced by Russell Streiner and Karl Hardman, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. The story follows seven people trapped in a farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania, under assault by reanimated corpses. Although the flesh-eating monsters that appear in the film are referred to as "ghouls", they are credited with popularizing the modern portrayal of zombies in popular culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica Lange</span> American actress (born 1949)

Jessica Phyllis Lange is an American actress. Known for her roles on stage and screen she has received numerous accolades and is one of the few performers to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting. Lange has received two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for a BAFTA Award and a Olivier Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbra Streisand</span> American singer and actress (born 1942)

Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the first performer awarded an EGOT.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scream queen</span> Actress known for her work in horror films

A scream queen is an actress who is prominent and influential in horror films, either through a notable appearance or recurring roles. A scream king is the male equivalent. Notable female examples include Barbara Steele, Sandra Peabody, Linda Blair, Felissa Rose, Olivia Hussey, Marilyn Burns, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Neve Campbell, Daria Nicolodi, Dee Wallace, Sarah Paulson, Vera Farmiga, Jamie Lee Curtis, Taissa Farmiga, Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Samara Weaving, Heather Langenkamp, Shawnee Smith, Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, Melissa Barrera, Naomi Scott and Linnea Quigley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Blair</span> American actress and animal rights activist (born 1959)

Linda Denise Blair is an American actress and activist. Her portrayal of Regan MacNeil in the horror film The Exorcist (1973) established her in popular culture and as a scream queen, earning her a Golden Globe Award, as well as an Academy Award nomination. She reprised the role in two sequels: Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) and The Exorcist: Believer (2023).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judith Light</span> American actress (born 1949)

Judith Ellen Light is an American actress. She made her professional stage debut in 1970, before making her Broadway debut in the 1975 revival of A Doll's House. Her breakthrough role was in the ABC daytime soap opera One Life to Live from 1977 to 1983, where she played the role of Karen Wolek; for this role, she won two consecutive Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1980 and 1981. In 2024, Light won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for Poker Face.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathy Bates</span> American actress (born 1948)

Kathleen Doyle Bates is an American actress. With a career spanning over five decades, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards, as well as nominations for a Tony Award and two BAFTA Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alicia Witt</span> American actress (born 1975)

Alicia Roanne Witt is an American actress and musician. She first came to fame as a child actress after being discovered by David Lynch, who cast her in Dune (1984) and Twin Peaks (1990). Witt was a regular on Cybill Shepherd's sitcom Cybill (1995–1998) for four seasons, playing the title character's daughter, Zoe Woodbine. She had a critically acclaimed role as a disturbed teenager in Fun (1994), appeared as a music student in Mr. Holland's Opus (1995) and as a terrorized college student in the horror film Urban Legend (1998). She appeared in Vanilla Sky (2001), Two Weeks Notice (2002), Last Holiday (2006), 88 Minutes (2007), I Care A Lot (2020) and Longlegs (2024). Witt has made television appearances in shows such as The Walking Dead, The Sopranos, Friday Night Lights, Twin Peaks: The Return, CSI: Miami, Supernatural, Justified and Orange Is the New Black.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Irving</span> American actress and singer

Amy Irving is a retired American actress and singer, who worked in film, stage, and television. Her accolades include an Obie Award, and nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award.

Judith Chapman is an American actress, best known for soap opera roles, particularly as Natalie Bannon Hughes in As the World Turns (1975–1978), Charlotte Greer on Ryan's Hope (1983), Ginny Blake Webber on General Hospital (1984–1986), Sandra Montaigne on One Life to Live (1987), Anjelica Deveraux on Days of Our Lives, and Gloria Abbott Bardwell on The Young and the Restless.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linnea Quigley</span> American actress, film producer, model, singer, and author (b. 1958)

Barbara Linnea Quigley is an American actress, best known as a scream queen in low-budget horror films during the 1980s and 1990s. Born in Davenport, Iowa, Quigley first pursued her career in the late 1970s, shortly after moving to Los Angeles. While working at Jack LaLanne's health spa, she was encouraged by her friends to try modeling, and also began taking acting and guitar-playing classes. After appearing as an extra in various films, Quigley got her first acting role in the Charles Band-produced film Fairy Tales (1978). She continued receiving small parts, mostly in B movies. Her first bigger part was in the 1981 slasher film Graduation Day. Quigley followed with more films such as Savage Streets (1984) and Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984).

<i>Night of the Living Dead</i> (1990 film) 1990 film by Tom Savini

Night of the Living Dead is a 1990 American horror film directed by Tom Savini and starring Tony Todd and Patricia Tallman. It is a remake of George A. Romero's 1968 film of the same title; Romero rewrote the original 1968 screenplay he had originally co-authored with John A. Russo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judy Geeson</span> English actress (born 1948)

Judith Amanda Geeson is an English film, stage, and television actress. She began her career primarily working on British television series, with a leading role on The Newcomers from 1965 to 1967, before making her major film debut in To Sir, with Love (1967). She starred in a range of films throughout the 1970s, from crime pictures to thriller and horror films, including The Executioner (1970), Fear in the Night (1972), Brannigan (1975) and The Eagle Has Landed (1976). She played heiress Caroline Penvenen from 1975-1977 in the BBC series Poldark, from the Winston Graham novels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lily Rabe</span> American actress (born 1982)

Lily Rabe is an American actress. She is best known for her multiple roles on the FX anthology horror series American Horror Story (2011–2021). For her performance as Portia in the Broadway production of The Merchant of Venice, she received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrienne King</span> American actress

Adrienne King is an American actress and artist. She made her film debut in the television film Inherit the Wind (1965)—followed by uncredited roles in Between the Lines (1977), Saturday Night Fever (1977), and Hair (1979).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexandra Breckenridge</span> American actress (born 1982)

Alexandra Breckenridge is an American actress. She began her career with supporting roles in the teen comedy films Big Fat Liar (2002) and She's the Man (2006). She later played reporter Willa McPherson in the FX series Dirt and had a supporting role in the short-lived series The Ex List. She starred as a young Moira O'Hara in the first season of FX's American Horror Story, and played Kaylee in the third season. She played Jessie Anderson in the AMC series The Walking Dead and Sophie in the NBC series This Is Us. She is also the voice of various characters in the animated comedy series Family Guy. Since 2019, she has starred as Melinda "Mel" Monroe in the Netflix series Virgin River.

Night of the Living Dead is a zombie horror media franchise created by George A. Romero beginning with the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead, directed by Romero and cowritten with John A. Russo. The franchise predominantly centers on different groups of people attempting to survive during the outbreak and evolution of a zombie apocalypse. The latest installment of the series, Survival of the Dead, was released in 2009, with a sequel, Twilight of the Dead, in development. This would be the first film in the series not directed by George Romero, who died on July 16, 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danai Gurira</span> Zimbabwean-American actress

Danai Jekesai Gurira is a Zimbabwean-American actress, playwright, and activist. She is best known for her starring roles as Michonne on the AMC horror drama series The Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live (2024), and as Okoye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero films, including Black Panther (2018) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). Gurira is the writer of the Broadway play Eclipsed, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play.

Judith Roberts is an American actress, who performed in various stage productions and appeared in film and television. She starred in the horror film Eraserhead (1977) by David Lynch and in later age played the main antagonist Mary Shaw in James Wan's supernatural horror film, Dead Silence (2007). She also starred in films Fred Won't Move Out (2012), You Were Never Really Here (2017) and The Last Thing Mary Saw (2021). Roberts also played Erica Taslitz, one of "The Golden Girls", in the Netflix comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black in 2014.

Poppy Liu is a Chinese-American actress, activist and poet, known for her roles in the sitcoms Sunnyside, Hacks, iCarly, and the Peabody Award-winning miniseries Dead Ringers.

References

  1. "First Look at Judith O'Dea in Night of the Living Dead: Genesis". Dread Central. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  2. J.C. Maçek III (2012-06-15). "The Zombification Family Tree: Legacy of the Living Dead". PopMatters .
  3. WOMEN’S STUDIES trims down, seeks new home [ permanent dead link ]
  4. "'Night of the Living Dead's' Judith O'Dea Returns In 'Genesis'!". Bloody Disgusting . 2012-06-15.
  5. O'Dea Communications