Lori Singer

Infobox actor


imagesize = 150px
birthdate = birth date and age|mf=yes|1957|11|6
birthplace = Corpus Christi, Texas, United States

Lori Singer [She has no middle name, according to the State of Texas. "Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997". At Ancestry.com] (born November 6, 1957) is an American actress and cellist. She is perhaps best known for her role of Ariel Moore, the daughter of Reverend Shaw Moore (played by John Lithgow) in the 1984 film "Footloose", which also starred Kevin Bacon. Madonna reportedly auditioned for the role of 'Ariel' losing out to then relatively unknown Lori Singer.

Biography

Early life

Singer was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, the daughter of Leslie (née Wright), a concert pianist, and Jacques Singer, a symphony orchestra conductor. Her brothers are actor Marc Singer and violinist Gregory Singer and her cousin is film director Bryan Singer.

Film and Television Career

Lori Singer first came to fame when she was cast as Julie Miller in the TV series "Fame" from 1982-1983. She portrayed a cellist in a part that was created for her. After "Footloose", she starred in a number of other movies, including "The Falcon and the Snowman" (directed by John Schlesinger and co-starring Sean Penn), "The Man with One Red Shoe" (with Tom Hanks), "Trouble in Mind" (directed by Alan Rudolph), "Equinox", "Summer Heat", " Warlock", " Sunset Grill", " F.T.W.", and the Robert Altman film "Short Cuts". In 1995, she played Sydney Bloom, the lead character in the highly regarded science fiction TV series "VR.5" that was considered ahead of its time in the depiction of virtual reality. She produced "Summer Heat", and was involved in the creative conception of "VR.5".

In 1986, Singer was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her role of Georgia in "Trouble in Mind". She, and the rest of the actors in "Short Cuts", won awards for best ensemble cast at the 1993 Venice Film Festival and the 1994 Golden Globe Awards. She also won newcomer of the year at Sho West and a Silver Halo Award.

Musical Life

Lori Singer is a Juilliard-trained cellist and was a protégé of Leonard Rose. She grew up in a musical family: her father, Jacques Singer, was a world famous conductor and protégé of Stokowski, and her mother is a concert pianist. As a child, she was often around such luminaries as Leonard Bernstein. She made her debut as soloist at age 13 with the Oregon Symphony. Singer has performed in public on such stages as the Royal Albert Hall and Carnegie Hall. She plays the cello in "Short Cuts", "Fame", and also in "Sarabande", a 1997 short film by Atom Egoyan that is part of the "Inspired by Bach" series, which also features cellist Yo-Yo Ma. She most recently performed as soloist at Carnegie Hall in January 2008, where she premiered a hymn written by Karl Jenkins in memory of Martin Luther King, Jr.

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0001742|name=Lori Singer
* [http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=65951&mod=bio "New York Times Movies" biography of Lori Singer]