Kristen Noel Swanson was born on 19 December 1969, in Mission Viejo, California USA, of German and Swedish descent, and is an actress, still perhaps best known for being part of the 1992 hit film “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” as the titular character. She has also appeared in noted films such as “Pretty in Pink” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”. All of her efforts have helped put her net worth to where it is today.
How rich is Kristy Swanson? As of late-2016, sources estimate a net worth that is at $5 million, mostly earned through a successful acting career. She had a role in the horror film “Deadly Friend”, and was part of the controversial film “Flowers in the Attic”. As she continues her career it is expected that her wealth will increase.
Kristy Swanson Net Worth $5 million
While Swanson was young, she expressed an interest in acting and began by taking part in television commercials – one of her first appearances was in a doll house commercial which would lead to several more opportunities. Meantime, she attended and matriculated from El Toro High School.
Later, Kristy would join The Actors Workshop and was still mostly given television advertising roles. She would then appear as a guest in TV series such as “Cagney and Lacy” and “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”. In 1986, she made her film debut in “Pretty and Pink” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” though only minor roles, so her first major role came in 1986’s “Deadly Friend” in which she played Samantha, and was then cast in the adaptation of the best-selling novel entitled “Flowers in the Attic”. She continued her career by appearing in numerous television shows, including “Knot’s Landing”, and had a lead role in both “Nightingales” and “BL Stryker” but they were short lived. She then concentrated mostly on films, and starred in 1992’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” which was not an initial hit but eventually found success. Other films she was a part of include “The Program” and “Hot Shots!” Thanks to her numerous opportunities her net worth started to increase.
In “Higher Learning”(1995) she played Kristen Connor, a student who’s discovering her sexuality; the success of the film and her well-received performance by critics helped increase Swanson’s net worth a bit. She also appeared in the film adaptation of “The Phantom” and “8 Heads in a Duffel Bag” which didn’t really find success at the box office. In 1998, she joined “Early Edition” playing Erica Paget who would become a love interest of the main character Gary Hobson. The following year, she appeared in the movie “Big Daddy” as the girlfriend of Adam Sandler, then in 2000 she returned to television in “Grapevine” which was a revamp of a 1992 television series. Her net worth rose steadily.
In 2002, Kristen posed nude for Playboy Magazine, and would win in the television program “Skating with Celebrities”. Five years later, she would appear as a guest in “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and the lesbian web series “3Way”. In 2009, she made her first film in 10 years entitled “What If…” and one of her latest appearances was in an episode of “One Tree Hill”.
For her personal life, it is known that Swanson dated actor Alan Thicke and they were engaged in 1988, however did not marry. She also had a relationship with her “Skating with Celebrities” partner Lloyd Eisler despite the fact that he was married. They had a son and eventually married just a month after Eisler’s divorce in 2009. The family currently live in Santa Clarita, California.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Big Daddy, Dude, Where's My Car?, Higher Learning, The Chase, Deadly Friend, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Hot Shots!, The Phantom, Mannequin Two: On the Move, Zebra Lounge, Pretty in Pink, 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag, A Christmas Wish, Swamp Shark, Flowers in the Attic, Red Water,...
TV Shows
Early Edition, Skating with Celebrities, Nightingales, Grapevine
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Trademark
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Lisp, breathless voice
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Often plays strong-willed, independent women
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Quote
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I've always been this strong-willed person and I've always been in love with acting. I love every aspect of show business and that includes both the show part of it and the business part of it.
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I won't date a guy who doesn't own a toolbox. I'm not saying you need to be able to knock down a wall or build a house or anything like that. But I've been out with a couple of guys who didn't own toolboxes, and they couldn't even change a light bulb.
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Fact
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An avid golfer, in 2014 she launched aDRESSitGOLF, a clothing line of ladies golf wear and accessories.
Attended and graduated from El Toro High School in Lake Forest, California.
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Auditioned for the role of Rain in Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives (1992). Allen liked her very much and she was one of the last two actresses considered, but the role went to Emily Lloyd instead. Lloyd was later fired and replaced by Juliette Lewis.
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Used her own personal pictures to decorate her dorm bedroom in Higher Learning (1995). The baby photos seen hanging are from her niece, Amanda Swanson.
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Was originally attached to star in the movie Blowing Smoke (2004) when it was first announced in 1997. However, lack of finance halted the project. When the movie was finally made in 2004, Estella Warren was cast in the role instead.
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As seen on an outtake of the web series 3Way (2008), she still knows her long, tongue-twisting line from Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) by heart.
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John Hughes originally cast Swanson on the role of the girl who picks up the phone in the school hall in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), however he inadvertently recast the role as it was filmed in Chicago. Hughes had liked Swanson's audition so much he wrote the small role of the Economics student specifically for her. He then recommended her for a small role in the reshot ending of Pretty in Pink (1986), which was done a few months later.
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Her older brother, Robert M. Swanson, Jr., was a heavy metal musician.
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Her paternal grandfather had Swedish ancestry and her maternal grandfather had German ancestry. She also has English, Irish, Scottish, and other German, roots.
Is currently a celebrity spokesperson for Medifast. [October 2007]
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Lives as a stay-at-home mother in Santa Clarita, California. [August 2013]
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Filmed a scene with Willem Dafoe in To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), but the scene was deleted on the final cut of the film. This would have marked her feature film debut.
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Arrested for cocaine overdose. [January 1988]
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Was ordered to attend 10 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings after pleading no contest to misdemeanor drunken driving in Los Angeles. She was also fined, put on probation and ordered to perform community service. Tests showed she had a blood alcohol level of 0.23 percent, nearly three times California's legal limit of 0.08. [August 2000]
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Dated Alan Thicke when she was 17 and he was 40. They were engaged two years later. She said they met when she was 16 while working at Warner Bros. Studios.
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(October 31, 2007) Assault charges in Canada against her have been dropped. Was arrested in June 2006 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada after an alleged altercation between her and her boyfriend's, Lloyd Eisler, ex-wife, Marcia O'Brien.
Kristy and Lloyd Eisler became the parents of their first child, a boy named Magnus Hart Swanson Eisler, on February 16, 2007. The baby weighed in 7 lbs. 11 oz.
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Has one older brother, Robert M. Swanson, Jr. (born July 12, 1965), but he does not act or skate.
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Has played two roles in which she jumps through a second story window to stop someone from running away. The first was Samantha/BB in Deadly Friend (1986) and the second was a Medeival Slayer in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992).
Between the ages of 9 and 13, Kristy appeared in over 30 television commercials.
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She gave up regular schooling at age 13 to focus on acting. Her parents, Bob and Rosemary, gave her home instruction. Her parents are retired physical education teachers.
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She received her first acting job at age 9 in a commercial for a dollhouse.