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Sean Young

Mary Sean Young (b. November 20, 1959 in Louisville, Kentucky) is an American actress. Young was often remembered as much for her off-screen actions as for her on-screen acting.

Her credits include Blade Runner, Dune, Stripes, Wall Street, No Way Out, and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

Young first created controversy in 1989 after James Woods, who co-starred with Young in the movie The Boost filed a harassment suit against her claiming she repeatedly threatened and stalked him after a terminated affair. Although Woods dropped his suit and later recanted all of his allegations against Young, the negative publicity hurt her career.

She was initially cast as Vicki Vale in Batman, but was forced to withdraw due to an injury. Young hurt her wrist while riding horseback in preperation for a scene which was ultimately written out of the script. The role of Vicki Vale ultimately went to Kim Basinger. Sean Young, by the way, also screen-tested for the role of Marion Ravenwood (a role that ultimately went to Karen Allen), who was the female lead in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Still smarting over losing the part of the female lead in the 1989 blockbuster, Young then set her sights on the role of Catwoman for the 1992 sequel Batman Returns.

In a now fabled incident, Young arrived at the Warner Brothers studio in a homemade Catwoman costume to confront the makers of the movie (namely director Tim Burton and actor Michael Keaton). She used other people scouting the studio grounds, using walkie-talkies to communicate, to track down the producers.

The topper was when Young went as far as appearing in her Catwoman costume to denounce Tim Burton on The Joan Rivers Show. Incidentially, Young wasn't even the second much less third choice to play Catwoman in Batman Returns. After pregnancy forced the original choice Annette Benning to bow-out, Michelle Pfeiffer was hired.

In recent years, Young has been busy with a variety of independent films and guest appearances on television. Most recently, she spent four months in Russia filming a miniseries in which she plays jazz dancer Isadora Duncan. She is divorced and the mother of two sons.

Last updated: 09-12-2005 02:39:13