She arrived in the public eye in Someone's Watching Me (1977), the first television feature of ex-husband-to-be John Carpenter, who had finally gotten a foothold after the dismal disappearance of now-cult sci-fi classic DarkStar (1973). For some reason utterly unconnected with events in the plot or the process of character development, Barbeau's character in Someone was gay. She continued to build her fan base on the strength of Carpenter's work, appearing in a leadlng role in The Fog (1980)and a well-remembered, pneumatic supporting role in Escape From New York (1981). Like Sybil Danning, she was well into her thirties when prominence called, and there was only a brief honeymoon for her as the new Scream Queen of Hollywood B-movies. Though having appeared nude in many 'art' films (recently re-warmed in the form of Bimbo Movie Bash (1998), her only noticeable screen nudity occurred in the schlock film adaptation of the Marvel comic-book Swamp Thing (1982). Cannibal Women and the Avocado Jungle of Death (1989)is not as much fun as it sounds, and typifies the quality of the films in which Barbeau was to appear in the remainder of the 1980s. A respected theatrical actress and television veteran, as well as a (slightly less respected)musical performer, she apparently need not mourn the demise of her career in the SF/fantasy/horror bracket.

SEX APPEAL...?

Despite her French-Canadian provenance, it's nature is distinctly urban/Italian. With a frown congenitally welded to a face that became sharp early and an endomorphic, buxom form of quite average stature for the South of Italy, she possesses the indefinably attractive qualities of the street-smart city girl, with a touch of European fatalism thrown in. Probably an unfortunate choice of enemy. The rest is silence, in itself attractive.