It had been the annual Randolph Central High Chorus Fund-Raising Spaghetti Dinner and my father had urged me, though un-required, as an 8th grader, to help out afterwards. I was an awkward, spectacled jangle of nerves. Painfully insecure, I probably hadn’t wanted to stay but, unwilling to disappoint my father, I stayed and made the best of it. In fact, I recall, I had fun helping to clean up. Besides, the choral director was friendly with my dad, a fellow teacher, and always seemed to take an interest in me. His look, though, upon thanking me at the end of the night, was a little too knowing for my comfort. He seemed to see everything about me – all the unevenness in me that I tried, valiantly, to hide- and viewed it with understanding and warmth. He knew, at that moment, where I was in space and time, and it was all too much for me. I felt weak – less than I should be. After a quiet and shamefaced acknowledgement, I skittered to the school’s doo r, hurriedly, and out into the frosty Fall night. I rushed home to my then sanctuary – the cool burnished (and, often, jaggedly torn) linoleum of the family room. In it, was our red paneled black and white television- my escape into another world. I settled upon an episode of a new detective series called Strike Force –and found a new love!

Her name was Cindy Fisher. She was blonde and truly beautiful with tall, sharp features. I was already familiar with her from a stint on Young and the Restless where she had played the recurring role of Rebecca, a member of a cult – but this was the night she, truly, made a mark on my life. She was playing a character named Sunset – another reluctant member of a cult, led by genre wacko Judson Scott (I, The Jury, Star Trek, The Sex Tapes). This episode, Fallen Angel, was like a B-Movie in 45 minutes with violent deaths performed by sexy villains who slaughtered without remorse, beautifully dangerous girls and beautiful girls in danger and an all night siege at an abandoned barn. The character of Sunset, was much like myself, uncomfortable with her contemporaries. Of course, her friends were blood thirsty and murdering strangers with a Manson-like fury, but I still related to her and her need for escape from her surroundings. I wanted to be like her – beautiful, the focus of attention (unwanted or not) and finally – freed from her past. Because of this – and even, though, this was a television show, Cindy Fisher was one of the first to enter my pantheon of Scream Queens that night.

A few years later, Fisher, again, impacted my life. She appeared on an episode of T.J. Hooker as a young wife kidnapped by Richard Hatch (Battlestar Galactica, Unseen Evil). The entire episode, Trackdown, focused on her character’s attempts to escape and for that 45 minutes, Fisher was, splendidly, the focus and the star of the show. This seemed a rare phenomenon to me– usually the focus was on the series regulars – William Shatner, Adrian Zmed, Heather Locklear and James Darren - and their involvement with a variety of guest stars on each episode. Fisher, once again, as Yvonne Winslow, proved to me that she was unique and reinforced my appreciation for her as a performer and as, I imagined, a powerful woman. Because of this singular plotline approach, the episode, also, seemed like more of a quick film – another late night Slasher “Z-O-Rama” and I became smitten anew!

Fisher, though, perhaps best know for her leading role in Liars Moon, a Romeo and Juliet type teen movie with the then pre-Superstar Matt Dillon, made only a few more acting appearances after that. She had a major role in the television movie, Sister Margaret and the Saturday Night Ladies with a still riding high, Bonnie Franklin and she, briefly, returned to The Young and the Restless. There, she was romanced by, real life husband, Doug Davidson. Soon, afterwards, though, she retired to raise their children.

Still, Fisher, whose other genre-type credits include sweet natured teen comedy, Hometown U.S.A. and the effective and creepy 1974 Horror T.V. movie, Bad Ronald (with fellow Young and Restless cast member and Slumber Party Massacre 2 co-star, Cynthia Eilbacher), will forever retain a special place in my heart as one of my early –and constant- acting and/or actress enthusiasms – another classic example of “it just goes to show” with me. That is - you never know how, when or with what vehicle, as a performer, you will truly affect and make a difference with someone. Especially me! That vulnerable, uneasy youth in me will forever remember that long ago Friday night with Cindy Fisher with joy and a heart full of wonder and future strong hope.