Taaffe O'Connell

Taaffe O'Connell
Born	Taaffe O'Connell (1951-05-14) May 14, 1951 Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
Other names	Taffy O'Connell
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1974–present

Taaffe O'Connell (born May 14, 1951) is an American actress, best known by horror film fans for her performance in Galaxy of Terror. Her acting career began in the late 1970s and continued uninterrupted through the 1980s. Her career has seen a rebirth after 2000 and has continued to the present day.

Apart from acting, O'Connell started and owned the Canoco Publishing Company during the 1990s. Canoco is a Los Angeles-based company produced Astro Caster Magazine, which specialized in casting information and advice for actors and actresses. Ms. O'Connell has written numerous articles for the magazine herself as well as being its owner and publisher.

Life and career

O'Connell was born in Providence, Rhode Island. While O'Connell's early career consisted primarily of TV show appearances (Three's Company, Happy Days, Dallas, Laverne & Shirley, Blansky's Beauties), she achieved lasting fame within the B-movie, horror film universe for her role as 'Dameia' in the movie Galaxy of Terror. Released in 1981, it was the second consecutive horror film she had appeared in, having also appeared in the 1980 film New Year's Evil. O'Connell's place as a scream queen legend was guaranteed with Galaxy of Terror however, due to the unique, bizarre and exploitive fate of her character.

Trapped on an alien world, her character and fellow shipmates find themselves in a giant pyramid built by an ancient culture who used it as a mental playground/testing area for their children. The human crew of the Quest (the ship in the film) unwittingly confront the pyramid, which creates monsters from the fears in their own minds, but the monsters come with more adult, psychological fears attached to them as well. The confrontations generally prove deadly to the crew since most of them aren't aware of this and cannot overcome the sense of terror and humiliation generated by their attackers. O'Connell's character, 'Dameia', reveals at one point she has a significant fear of worms. Shortly thereafter, she is attacked by a giant 12-foot worm. The psychological fear that 'Dameia' confronts along with the worm is sexual in nature, because the monster graphically rapes her as it kills her.

The scene as it was released contained enough nudity (from both O'Connell and a body double who was used in certain shots) and was sexually explicit enough to achieve cult status for the movie and the actress. According to R.J. Kizer on the 2010 Shout! Factory re-release of Galaxy, it was initially even more explicit; in fact, it earned an X-rating from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) upon its first screening. Kizer had to make a series of small cuts of "ecstatic" expressions on O'Connell's face as the creature climaxes and kills her, as well as sexually suggestive motions made by the monster throughout, in order to get the film's rating lowered to 'R'. Even with the cuts, the sequence was restricted or banned from cinematic release in several countries.

As a result of this, O'Connell has had cameo appearances in several other horror films in the 90s and early 2000s, and B-movie print productions like Femme Fatales (magazine) and Fangoria have done features on her, the scene, and the film. O'Connell herself has a prominent role in the commentary of the DVD/Blu-ray release, as well as in its companion feature "Tales from the Lumber Yard" which discusses the making of the film.

During the 1990s, O'Connell's focus shifted away from acting and into publishing. Her Canoco Publishing Company has continued operations for 20 years, and produces Astro Caster Magazine, a trade magazine which combines traditional casting for actors and actresses with astrological insights and information.

Recently, O'Connell has begun taking acting parts in films again. She has appeared in three films, Spork, Going Down in LA-LA Land and the box-office hit The Change-Up. Her roles in these films have been more comedic than dramatic, similar to her roles on Three's Company and the mid-80s film Hot Chili.

Filmography

• The Change-Up (2011)
• Going Down in LA-LA Land (2011)
• Spork (2010)
• Dismembered (2003)
• Dallas "Paradise Lost" Episode 327 (1990)
• Hot Chili (1985)
• Knight Rider "Halloween Knight" (1984)
• Caged Fury (1983)
• Galaxy of Terror (1981)
• The Incredible Hulk "Dark Side" (1980)
• Rocky II (1979)
• CHiPs "Quarantine" (1979)
• Blansky's Beauties (1977)

External links

• Taaffe O'Connell at the Internet Movie Database
• Article in French about Taaffe O'Connell