Early life

Swanson was born and raised in Mission Viejo, California, the daughter of physical education teachers Robert and Rosemary Swanson. Swanson graduated from El Toro High School. Swanson has one older brother, Rob. Swanson's paternal grandfather was Swedish, and her maternal grandfather was of German ancestry. She also has an uncle who taught English and Journalism in Anaheim, California.

At the age of nine, Swanson expressed interest in acting to her parents, and began pursuing roles in television commercials. She landed her first job appearing in a doll house commercial, which was followed with several more commercial appearances.

Career

Swanson began her acting career at The Actors Workshop with R.J. Adams and promptly moved into TV advertising roles and several one-off appearances in TV series such as Cagney and Lacey and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. In 1986, she debuted on the big screen in two John Hughes films: Pretty In Pink, in a non-speaking role, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off as a character who announces a convoluted excuse for Ferris' absence in class. Her first starring role was later in 1986, in Wes Craven's Deadly Friend as Samantha - "the girl next door". The next year she played Cathy in the adaptation of V. C. Andrews' best-seller Flowers in the Attic.

Swanson revealed in a 2015 television interview how she was cast in Pretty In Pink: " John Hughes said, 'We're re-shooting the end of Pretty in Pink. I was wondering if you would come be in this scene with our main character, Ducky, because the way we tested it in the movie theater, it didn't work. We need him to end up with somebody else at the end of the movie. So would you play the part?'"

By 1990, Swanson had made many television appearances, including multiple appearances in Knots Landing (1987-1988), Nightingales (1989), her first starring role in a TV series, although it only lasted a season, and a short-lived Burt Reynolds television series called B.L. Stryker (1989).

Throughout the 1990s, she starred mostly in films. She played the title role in the 1992 movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Although not a hit at the box office originally, it had a profitable rental life. She appeared in both starring and supporting roles in movies such as Hot Shots!, The Program, The Chase, or her most critically acclaimed role, playing Kristen Connor, a student discovering her sexuality, in John Singleton's Higher Learning. She also appeared in the film adaptation of the comic-book The Phantom and the dark comedy 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag with Joe Pesci. Most of these films failed at the box office, and she reverted to TV work in the late 1990s.

In the 1998-99 season of Early Edition, Swanson played Erica Paget, a love interest of the main character, Gary Hobson. In 1999, Swanson played Vanessa, the girlfriend of Adam Sandler in the movie Big Daddy. In 2000, she returned to a television series, as the star of Grapevine, a revamp of a 1992 TV series that was canceled after five episodes.

Swanson posed nude for Playboy magazine in November 2002 in a cover-featured pictorial. She appeared in and won the 2006 Fox television program Skating with Celebrities, partnered with Lloyd Eisler.

On May 8, 2007, Swanson appeared in the Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode "Bombshell", playing a fictionalized variation on Anna Nicole Smith.

In 2007, she became a spokesperson of the Medifast diet. In the following year, she guest-starred in three episodes of the lesbian web series 3Way.

In July 2009, she filmed What If..., co-starring Kevin Sorbo and Debby Ryan, released on August 20, 2010. It was her first theatrical film in 10 years.

Swanson made a cameo appearance in the "Don't You Forget About Me" episode of One Tree Hill, which aired on February 1, 2010. The episode was a homage to John Hughes; Swanson appeared in two films produced by him in the 1980s.

Personal life

Swanson started dating actor Alan Thicke when she was 17 years old in 1986 and got engaged to him two years later when he was 42.

Swanson began a relationship with her Skating with Celebrities partner Lloyd Eisler during the show's run, while Eisler was still married to his then-pregnant wife, Marcie. Swanson gave birth to a son named Magnus Hart Swanson Eisler on February 16, 2007, just one month after Lloyd's divorce from Marcia O'Brien was finalized. Swanson married Eisler on February 7, 2009 in San Luis Obispo, California. They currently live in Santa Clarita, California.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Pretty in Pink	Duckette
1986	Ferris Bueller's Day Off	Simone Adamley
1986	Deadly Friend	Samantha Pringle
1987	Flowers in the Attic	Catherine "Cathy" Dollanganger
1987	Not Quite Human	Erin Jeffries
1990	Dream Trap	Sue Halloran
1990	Diving In	Terry Hopkins
1991	Mannequin Two: On the Move	Jessie
1991	Hot Shots!	Kowalski
1991	Highway to Hell	Rachel Clark
1992	Buffy the Vampire Slayer	Buffy Summers
1993	The Program	Camille Shafer
1994	Chase, TheThe Chase	Natalie Voss
1994	Getting In	Kirby Watts
1995	Higher Learning	Kristen Connor
1995	Chili Con Carne Club, TheThe Chili Con Carne Club	Julie	Short film
1996	Phantom, TheThe Phantom	Diana Palmer
1997	8 Heads in a Duffel Bag	Laurie Bennett
1997	Lover Girl	Darlene Ferrari / "Sherry"
1997	Tinseltown	Nikki Randall
1998	Ground Control	Julie Albrecht
1999	Big Daddy	Vanessa
2000	Meeting Daddy	Laurel Lee
2000	Dude, Where's My Car?	Christie Boner
2001	Soul Assassin	Tessa Jansen
2003	Silence	Dr. Julia Craig
2005	Bound by Lies	Laura Cross	Video
2005	Six Months Later	Linda	Short film
2006	Living Death	Elizabeth Harris	Video
2009	Closer, TheThe Closer	Kaitlyn	Short film
2010	What If...	Wendy Walker
2011	Chick Magnet	Kristy	Video
2012	Little Women, Big Cars	Rocky
2013	Bouquet, TheThe Bouquet	Terri Benton
2013	Storm Rider	Jody Peterson	Video
2014	Beethoven's Treasure Tail	Anne Parker	Video
2014	A Belle For Christmas	Daniella Downy	Video
2016	Where Heaven And Hell Collide	Debbie Peters	Completed
2016	Mimesis 2	Mother	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	It's Your Move	Laura	Episode: "Love Letters"
1985	Call to Glory	Sally	Episodes: "JFK: Parts 1 & 2"
1985	Cagney & Lacey	Stephanie Brandon	Episode: "On the Street"
1986	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Female Student #2	Episode: "The Gloating Place"
1986	Miracle of the Heart: A Boys Town Story	Stephanie Gamble	TV film
1986	Mr. Boogedy	Jennifer Davis	TV film
1986	Hogan Family, TheThe Hogan Family	Linda Perkins	Episode: "The Big Fix-Up"
1987	Jaurez	Cathy Dodge	TV film
1987	Growing Pains	Rhonda	Episode: "Thank God It's Friday"
1987	Not Quite Human	Eron Jeffries	TV film
1987-1988	Knots Landing	Jody Campbell	Recurring role (8 episodes)
1988	Loner, TheThe Loner	Sherry Spicer	TV film
1988	Ohara		Episode: "X"
1988	Nightingales	Rebecca "Becky" Granger	TV film
1989	Nightingales	Rebecca "Becky" Granger	Main role (13 episodes)
1989	B.L. Stryker	Lynn Ellingsworth	Episodes: "The Dancer's Touch", "Blues for Buder"
1996	Marshal Law	Lilly Nelson	TV film
1997	Bad to the Bone	Francesca Wells	TV film
1998-1999	Early Edition	Erica Paget	Main role (20 episodes)
1999	Supreme Sanction	Jenna	TV film
2000	Grapevine	Susan Crawford	Regular role (5 episodes)
2001	Untitled Charles Randolph Project		TV pilot
2001	Zebra Lounge	Louise Bauer	TV film
2003	Just Shoot Me!	Allison Cavanaugh	Episode: "There's Something About Allison"
2003	Red Water	Dr. Kelli Raymond	TV film
2004	CSI: Miami	Roxanne Price	Episode: "Complications"
2005	Forbidden Secrets	Alexandra Kent Lambeth	TV film
2006	Black Hole, TheThe Black Hole	Shannon Muir	TV film
2007	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Lorelai Mailer	Episode: "Bombshell"
2008	3Way	Leslie Lapdalulu	Episodes: "Fatal Distraction: Parts 1 & 2", "The Dinah Monologues"
2010	One Tree Hill	Woman in Car	Episode: "Don't You Forget About Me"
2011	Swamp Shark	Rachel Bouchard	TV film
2011	Christmas Wish, AA Christmas Wish	Martha Evans	TV film
2011-2014	Psych	Marlowe Viccellio	Recurring role (6 episodes)
2012	Operation Cupcake	Janet Carson	TV film
2014	A Lesson in Romance	Megan Mills	TV film
2014	Merry Ex-Mas	Noelle	TV film
2014	Driven Underground	Sarah	TV film

Awards and nominations

Wins

• 1989: Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress in a Horror or Mystery Motion Picture - Flowers In The Attic

Nominations

• 1988: Young Artist Award for Best Young Female Superstar in Motion Pictures - Deadly Friend
• 1987: Young Artist Award for Exceptional Young Actress Starring in a Television Special or Movie of the Week - Mr. Boogedy
• 1986: Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress - Guest in a Television Series - Cagney & Lacey episode "On The Street"

Charities

Kristy Swanson supports the following charitable cause: Children.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]