Background:

OK, so Kristy Swanson did pose nude in the November 2002 issue of Playboy magazine, but she also brought the character Buffy to the screen in the movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992). Long before Sarah Michelle Gellar was mixing it up with the undead, Kristy was chumming with legend Donald Sutherland to fight the dark side.

Kristy has stood beneath bright lights with another well-known actor, Charlie Sheen. In 1994's The Chase, Jackson (played be Sheen) takes Natalie (played by Swanson) hostage and gives the audience one heck of a ride, complete with police cars and helicopters.

Kristy may not be the best-known actress around, but she's been working since she was a child and chances are... she plans to stay.

Starting Out

Childhood and Family:

Kristen N. Swanson was born on December 19, 1969 in Mission Viejo, California. Her parents were both Physical-education teachers and at one time taught Kristy at home so she could pursue acting.

At the early age of 9 Kristy could be seen in television commercials, including one advertising dollhouses. These stepping stones would be the start of her acting career.

Creating the Craze

Career:

Kristy Swanson has been busy in the entertainment industry since the age of 9 when she started her acting career in television commercials which led to appearances in such TV shows as Cagney & Lacey, Growing Pains and B.L. Stryker. Roles in movies also appeared and Kristy can briefly be seen in such films as Pretty in Pink (1986) and Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986). In Wes Craven's dark film Deadly Friend (1986), Kristy was cast in a leading role. Another horror film, Flowers in the Attic (1987) again saw Kristy as a lead character. Although the movie was no match for the book, Kristy continued to work, landing parts in such movies as TV's Not Quite Human and Nightingales (1989). Kristy's big screen acting included parts in Diving In (1990), Dream Trap (1990), Hot Shots! (1991) starring Charlie Sheen and Highway to Hell (1992).

In 1992 the character Buffy Summers, the vampire-battling teenager, was introduced and the Buffy the Vampire Slayer craze began. Although Sarah Michelle Gellar would be the actress to play Buffy in the television series, it was Kristy Swanson who first played the role of Buffy. Kristy, along with Donald Sutherland, Paul Reubens and Rutger Hauer, brought Buffy to light and the "Buffy legacy" began.

Kristy Swanson has stayed busy although she is best known for the original movie character Buffy. A glimpse of some of her other work includes Natalie Voss in The Chase (1994), starring Charlie Sheen, Vanessa in Big Daddy (1999), starring Adam Sandler, Laurel Lee in Meeting Daddy (2000), starring Lloyd Bridges, and Dr. Julia Craig in Silence (2002).

In 2005 one can catch Kristy in Betrayed and TV's Black Hole.