Photo: CBS Network / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Rebecca Schaeffer is one of those names I can't say without a pang. A teen model turned actress from Eugene, Oregon, she had genuine warmth on screen and, in Patti from My Sister Sam, a role audiences adored. She was twenty-one, just hitting her stride, when a senseless act stole her future. There's a bitter dignity in knowing her death pushed anti-stalking laws into existence, but it doesn't lessen the loss. Watching her surviving work, I keep imagining the career that should have followed. I think of her not as a cautionary tale but as a real talent cut cruelly short.
Overview
Rebecca Lucile Schaeffer ( SHAY-fər; November 6, 1967 – July 18, 1989) was an American actress and model. She began her career as a teen model before moving on to acting. In 1986, she landed the role of Patricia "Patti" Russell in the CBS comedy My Sister Sam. The series was canceled in 1988, and she appeared in several films, including the black comedy Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Rebecca Schaeffer
- Name (Japanese)
- レベッカ・シェイファー
- Reading
- れべっか・しぇいふぁー
- Born
- November 6, 1967 – July 18, 1989
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Scorpio / Goat
- Origin
- Eugene, Oregon, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- 2 cm
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- actor / television actor / model / film actor / fashion model
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Lincoln High School
- University
- Private
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Actor — see all → · Television actor — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.