Deborah Raffin

Deborah Iona Raffin (March 13, 1953[1] – November 21, 2012) was an American actress, model and audiobook publisher.

Deborah Raffin
Born
Deborah Iona Raffin

(1953-03-13)March 13, 1953
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
DiedNovember 21, 2012(2012-11-21) (aged 59)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupations
  • Actress
  • model
  • audiobook publisher
Years active1973–2011
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1974; div. 2005)​
Children1
Parent

Early life

Raffin was born in Los Angeles, California, to actress Trudy Marshall and Phillip Jordan Raffin, a restaurateur and business executive.[2][3] Her father was Jewish, and her mother was from a Christian background; Raffin identified with Judaism.[4][5]

Career

Like her mother, Raffin appeared as a model on numerous magazine covers including 'Teen, Seventeen and Good Housekeeping in the 1970s and 1980s and acted in several 1970s Hollywood films.[6] She co-starred with Joseph Bottoms in the Gregory Peck-produced film The Dove (1974). Her 1976 television movie, Nightmare in Badham County, became a theatrical hit in mainland China, making Raffin a star there and leading to her later becoming the first Western actress ever to undertake a movie promotion tour in that country.[7] She was nominated for both a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and a Razzie Award for Worst Actress for her performance in Touched by Love in 1981. That same year, she starred in the TV series adaptation of the hit 1978 film Foul Play, in which she and Barry Bostwick took over the roles played by Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase.

In 1988, she starred in James Clavell's Noble House with Pierce Brosnan. In 1991, she appeared as Julie Vale, a telepath, in the cult film Scanners II: The New Order alongside actor David Hewlett. She later appeared as Julie Camden Hastings on the television show 7th Heaven and as Dr. Hightower in the ABC Family teenager series The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

Personal life

Raffin married film producer Michael Viner in 1974. The couple later became audiobook publishers.[3] They had one child, daughter Taylor, and divorced in 2005.[8]

Death

Raffin was diagnosed with blood cancer in 2011. On November 21, 2012, she died from leukemia at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. She was 59 years old.[9][10] She was buried at the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Select filmography

References
  1. "Raffin plays woman on run". Detroit Free Press: 35. 1983-01-26. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  2. "Mark of the Gorilla". Geostan.ca. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  3. Weinraub, Bernard (28 February 1993). "Michael Viner and Deborah Raffin; Selling Books to a Generation That Won't Sit Still". The New York Times. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  4. "Memories of Christmas Past ... Actress Deborah Raffin can't shake Christmas. It's as much a part of her life in July as it is in December". Nl.newsbank.com. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  5. "NewsLibrary Search Results". Nl.newsbank.com. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  6. Sue Reilly, "As for Marriage, Deborah Raffin & Michael Viner Say Once Is Quite Enough" Archived 2015-09-25 at the Wayback Machine People, October 1, 1979.
  7. "People: Nov. 8, 1982", Time, November 8, 1982.
  8. Elaine Woo, "Michael Viner dies at 65; tabloid book publisher", Los Angeles Times, August 13, 2009.
  9. Woo, Elaine (November 21, 2012). "Deborah Raffin dies at 59; actress was also a force in audio books". Los Angeles Times.
  10. "Deborah Raffin, an Actress and Audiobook Publisher, Dies at 59". New York Times. November 23, 2012.
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