Theresa Saldana (August 20, 1954 – June 6, 2016) was an American actress, activist, and writer. She was best known for her role as Rachel Scali on the television series The Commish (1991–96), for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film.

Saldana's other notables roles included a teen Beatles fan in Robert Zemeckis' Beatlemania comedy I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978) and as Lenora LaMotta in Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull (1980). She was also known for raising public awareness of the crime of stalking after surviving a knife attack by an obsessed fan at her home in 1982.

Early life Saldana was born in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, and was adopted at five days old by Divina and Tony Saldana, a family of Puerto Rican and Italian-American heritage.

Saldana took dance lessons as a child. After suffering a serious shoulder injury while part of a tumbling team, she enrolled in acting classes at age 12. After being spotted by a talent scout while performing in an Off Broadway musical called The New York City Street Show in 1977, she was cast in the 1978 film Nunzio.

Stalking incident Saldana was stalked by Arthur Richard Jackson, a 46-year-old drifter from Aberdeen, Scotland. Jackson became obsessed with Saldana after seeing her in the 1980 films Defiance and Raging Bull."truTV | Reality TV | Comedy" . trutv.com."http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0407/13/lkl.00.html1". cnn.com. He hired a private investigator who obtained the unlisted phone number of Saldana's mother. Jackson then called Saldana's mother and posed as Martin Scorsese's assistant, saying he needed Saldana's residential address in order to contact her for replacing an actress in a film role in Europe.

Jackson approached Saldana in front of her West Hollywood residence in broad daylight on March 15, 1982, and repeatedly stabbed her with a hunting knife, puncturing a lung. His attack was so fierce that the blade bent. Although there were many nearby onlookers, including children, the attack was interrupted only when a deliveryman, Jeff Fenn, intervened after hearing Saldana's cries, rushed from the second floor of an apartment building, and incapacitated Jackson. Following the assault, Saldana was hospitalized with 10 stab wounds and underwent a four-month hospital stay at the Motion Picture Hospital. She relived the incident in the television film Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story and again in an episode of Hunter.

Jackson served almost 14 years in prison for the assault and making subsequent threats against Saldana and her rescuer while in prison. He was then extradited to the United Kingdom in 1996 to be tried for a 1966 robbery and murder. Jackson (who once saw himself as "the benevolent angel of death") was found not guilty by diminished responsibility in 1997 and committed to a British psychiatric hospital, where he died of heart failure in 2004, at the age of 68.

Jackson's method of finding and approaching Saldana inspired stalker Robert John Bardo to hire a private investigator to contact Rebecca Schaeffer, a young TV sitcom star whom he subsequently murdered, also in West Hollywood, on July 18, 1989.

Victim advocacy Following her long recovery, Saldana founded the Victims for Victims organization and participated in lobbying for the 1990 anti-stalking law and the 1994 Driver's Privacy Protection Act, both of which came into being partly as a consequence of the attack. The experience also inspired Saldana to play herself in the television film Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story, and she authored the book Beyond Survival, a memoir of her experiences after being attacked.

Personal life Saldana's first marriage was to Fred Feliciano from February 11, 1979, to 1986. In March 1989, she married for the second time, to Phil Peters, with whom she had a daughter, Tianna Saldana Peters (born August 30, 1989, in Los Angeles). They remained together until her death.

Death Saldana died on June 6, 2016, at age 61, after being hospitalized with pneumoniaaccording to her longtime friend, Soorya Townley at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Michael Chiklis, who played Saldana's husband on The Commish, wrote that it was "painful to hear the news."

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes1978I Wanna Hold Your HandGrace CorriganNunzioMaryann1980Home MoviesJudyDefianceMarshaRaging BullLenora LaMotta1984Rhiana Hidalgo / Nancy1988RhondaDouble RevengeAngie Corello1989Of Men and AngelsMaria1990Angel TownMaria Ordonez1999Carlo's WakeTheresa Brock2004Gang WarzCarmela CruzIllusion InfinityMaria

Television Year Title Role Notes1979240-RobertRosieEpisode: "The Applicant"1980Sophia Loren: Her Own StoryMaria ScicoloneTV film1981NurseRitaEpisode: "The Gifts"1983Seven Brides for Seven BrothersAngelinaEpisode: "Promised Land"T. J. HookerMaria SantiniEpisode: "Too Late for Love"1983American PlayhousePregnant AgainEpisode: "Miss Lonelyhearts"1984Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana StoryHerselfTV film1985InezEpisode: "Dead Woman's Shoes"Cagney & LaceyDr. StrathmoreEpisode: "Old Ghosts"1986Simon & SimonMrs. KarnofskyEpisode: "Full Moon Blues"MatlockSonia CardenasEpisode: "The Affair"Tales from the DarksideAudrey WebsterEpisode: "Black Widows"1987HunterJennifer HartmanEpisode: "Any Second Now"Santa BarbaraCarlotta Quivar2 episodesCBS Schoolbreak SpecialLaura ChaconEpisode: "Juvi"Angela BrownTV film1987–88WerewolfRosaEpisode: "World of Difference"1988Buck JamesMarta OrtizEpisode: "Lives in the Balance"Falcon CrestPretty WomanEpisode: "False Faces"1990MacGyverMariaEpisode: "The Treasure of Manco"New Kids on the BlockRosa (voice)Main cast1991–96Rachel ScaliMain cast1991Confessions of CrimeHerselfSeries host1993Shameful SecretsRachel MoralesTV film1994Captain Planet and the PlaneteersMame Slaughter (voice)2 episodes1995Law & OrderJurorEpisode: "House Counsel"Jonny Quest vs. The Cyber InsectsDr. Eve Belage (voice)TV film1996She Woke Up PregnantDoris CantoreTV film1996–97Estella Velasquez (voice)2 episodes1997Diagnosis: MurderKirsten FoxxEpisode: "In Defense of Murder"Nothing SacredPaula2 episodesAll My ChildrenChristina Vargas24 episodes1998Martial LawMaria HamiltonEpisode: "Bad Seed"1999Thrill SeekersCortezTV film2000Ready to RunSonja Ortiz2001Batman BeyondMrs. Diaz (voice)Episode: "Unmasked"2003LydiaEpisode: "Maid Man"

Books

References

External links

Interview on CNN Larry King Live with Saldana and Fenn on July 13, 2004. The Jazz Tap Ensemble Theresa Saldana(Aveleyman)