Early life

Saldana was born in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, the daughter of Divina and Tony Saldana.

Stalking incident

On March 15, 1982, Saldana was the stalking victim of Arthur Richard Jackson, a 46-year-old drifter from Aberdeen, Scotland. Jackson became attracted to Saldana after seeing her in the 1980 films Defiance and Raging Bull. He obtained Saldana's address by hiring a private investigator to obtain the unlisted phone number of Saldana's mother. Jackson then called Saldana's mother and posed as Martin Scorsese's assistant, saying he needed Saldana's residential address in order to contact her for replacing an actress in a film role in Europe.

Jackson approached Saldana in front of her West Hollywood residence in broad daylight and stabbed her in the torso 10 times with a 5½-inch (14 cm) knife, nearly killing her. His attack was so fierce that the blade bent. Although there were many nearby onlookers, the attack was only interrupted when delivery man Jeff Fenn intervened after hearing her cries, rushed from the second floor of an apartment building, and subdued Jackson. Saldana recovered after four hours of surgery and a four-month hospital stay at the Motion Picture Hospital. She relived the incident in the made-for-TV movie Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story and again in an episode of Hunter.

Jackson served almost 14 years in prison for the assault and making subsequent threats against Saldana and her rescuer while in prison. He was then extradited to the United Kingdom in 1996 to be tried for a 1966 robbery/murder. Jackson (who once saw himself as "the benevolent angel of death") was found not guilty by diminished responsibility in 1997 and committed to a British psychiatric hospital, where he died of heart failure in 2004 at age 68.

Jackson's method to find and approach Saldana inspired stalker Robert John Bardo to hire a private investigator to contact Rebecca Schaeffer, a young actress whom he subsequently murdered, also in West Hollywood, in 1989.

Victim advocacy

Following her long recovery, Saldana founded the Victims for Victims organization and participated in lobbying for the 1990 anti-stalking law and the 1994 Driver's Privacy Protection Act, both of which came into being partly as a consequence of the attack. The experience also inspired Saldana to play herself in the television movie Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story, and she authored the book Beyond Survival, a memoir of her experiences after being attacked.

Performing arts advocacy

Saldana supports awareness for The Jazz Tap Ensemble, of which her daughter is a member. The group raises money for training gifted teenaged dancers.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	I Wanna Hold Your Hand	Grace Corrigan
1978	Nunzio	Maryann
1980	Defiance	Marsha
1980	Home Movies	Judy
1980	Raging Bull	Lenore
1984	Evil That Men Do, TheThe Evil That Men Do	Rhiana Hidalgo / Nancy
1988	Night Before, TheThe Night Before	Rhonda
1988	Double Revenge	Angie Corello
1989	Of Men and Angels	Maria
1990	Angel Town	Maria
1999	Carlo's Wake	Theresa Brock
2004	Illusion Infinity	Maria
2004	Gang Warz	Carmela Cruz

Television

1979	240-Robert	Rosie	Episode: "The Applicant"
1980	Sophia Loren: Her Own Story	Maria Scicolone	TV film
1981	Nurse	Rita	Episode: "The Gifts"
1983	Seven Brides for Seven Brothers	Angelina	Episode: "Promised Land"
1983	T. J. Hooker	Maria Santini	Episode: "Too Late for Love"
1983	American Playhouse		Episode: "Miss Lonelyhearts"
1985	Twilight Zone, TheThe Twilight Zone	Inez	Episode: "Dead Woman's Shoes"
1984	Theresa Saldana: The Theresa Saldana Story	Theresa Saldana	TV Film
1985	Cagney & Lacey	Dr. Strathmore	Episode: "Old Ghosts"
1986	Simon & Simon	Mrs. Karnofsky	Episode: "Full Moon Blues"
1986	Matlock	Sonia Cardenas	Episode: "The Affair"
1986	Tales from the Darkside	Audrey Webster	Episode: "Black Widows"
1987	Hunter	Jennifer Hartman	Episode: "Any Second Now"
1987	Santa Barbara	Carlotta Quivar	Episodes 689 and 691
1987	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Laura Chacon	Episode: "Juvi"
1987	Highwayman, TheThe Highwayman	Angela Brown	TV film
1988	Buck James	Marta Ortiz	Episode: "Lives in the Balance"
1988	Falcon Crest	Pretty Woman	Episode: "False Faces"
1990	MacGyver	Maria	Episode: "The Treasure of Manco"
1990	New Kids on the Block	Rosa (voice)	Regular role (15 episodes)
1991-1996	Commish, TheThe Commish	Rachel Scali	Regular role (92 episodes)
1991	Confessions of Crime		series host
1993	Shameful Secrets	Rachel Morales	TV film
1994	Captain Planet and the Planeteers	Mame Slaughter (voice)	Episodes: "Orangu-Tangle", "Horns a'Plenty"
1995	Law & Order	Juror	Episode: "House Counsel"
1995	Jonny Quest Versus the Cyber Insects	Dr. Eve Belage (voice)	TV film
1996	She Woke Up Pregnant	Doris Cantore	TV film
1996	Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, TheThe Real Adventures of Jonny Quest	Estella Velasquez (voice)	Episode: "The Mummies of Malengue"
1997	Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, TheThe Real Adventures of Jonny Quest	Estella Velasquez (voice)	Episode: "The Robot Spies"
1997	Diagnosis: Murder	Kirsten Foxx	Episode: "In Defense of Murder"
1997	Nothing Sacred	Paula	Episodes: "Parents and Children", "Roman Catholic Holiday"
1997	All My Children	Christina Vargas	TV series
1998	Martial Law	Maria Hamilton	Episode: "Bad Seed"
1999	Thrill Seekers	Cortez	TV film
2000	Ready to Run	Sonja Ortiz	TV film
2001	Batman Beyond	Mother (voice)	Episode: "Unmasked"
2003	Bernie Mac Show, TheThe Bernie Mac Show	Lydia	Episode: "Maid Man"

Books

• Saldana, Theresa (1986). Beyond Survival. Toronto: Bantam Books. ISBN 9780553051339. OCLC 13582610.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]