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Adrienne King: Walking the Distance

showerAdrienne King: Walking the Distance with the Original Final Girl. By Brian Kirst

Long before she graced theatre screens as one of the “first females to kick ass in horror films”, Friday the 13th superstar Adrienne King was breaking the glass ceiling in her local high school in Long Island. In the early 1970’s, King was not only a talented artist, but also “the first girl to wear pants in my school” and “the first female to enroll in auto mechanics”. This heart based defiance of standard limitations and restrictive labels surely prepared King for the twists and turns that her life was soon going to encounter.

In fact, King survived her first horror based disappointment as a junior in high school. She received “callback after callback after callback” for the role of Hallie Stokes on the popular Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows. Upon losing the role to Kathy Cody (Girls on the Road, the television remake of Double Indemnity), King was “devastated.”

aliceboatStill, King, who landed her first major role at eight, knew enough about the business to valiantly soldier onward while still graduating in the top ten of her class.

It was this strong fortitude (and her childhood scream – which panicked fellow competitors as it sliced through the audition door) that landed her that initial role. As Melinda in Hallmark Hall of Fame’s Inherit the Wind, King found herself in an artistic haven. Rehearsing in Greenwich Village with a stable of well known character actors such as Ed Begley, King discovered within her “the need to be here forever”.

This desire led her to move to NYC after graduation and enroll in F.I.T. on a Fine Arts Scholarship. While honing her love for painting at school, King continued to audition, landing commercials (including one with Sammy Davis Jr.) and under fives on soaps. Soon, she was also dancing her way into feature films – literally. She had a “good time” working with famed choreographer Twyla Tharp and a young Treat Williams as a background bride for Milos Forman’s cult favorite Hair. She got even more screen time as a dancer in Saturday Night Fever with John Travolta. Because of editing issues, you can actually spot “three different hairstyles and three different costumes on me within one scene,” King notes.

hellaciousOf course, King’s eternal fame was sealed when she landed the role of Alice in a little, low budget film entitled Friday the 13th. King’s soft subtext and soulful wandering as Alice endeared her to outsiders everywhere and her ultimate triumph over adversity soon became their own. This texture was achieved because director Sean Cunningham allowed King to “take the time to do what I needed to do.” This was probably most helpful in King’s showdown scene with Betsy Palmer’s psychotic Mrs. Voorhees. Method actress Palmer “pounded my head in the sand for real,” King recalls. ‘I was like, okay, the gloves are coming off! It was a serious physical challenge. I wound up battered and bruised, but I felt a new level of acting was achieved.”

King’s downtime on the set was much more pleasant and, forever an artist, she almost always had her sketch book in hand. “Kevin Bacon and Harry Crosby used to pump iron and do push-ups before their shirtless and swimming scenes,” she recalls. “I’ve got life like sketches of them in a box that I’m going to pull out one day.”

Pulling out is something that King probably wishes she could have done when it came to her involvement with Friday the 13th, Part 2. “It was very wham bam, thank you mame!” she recalls with “none of the sensitivity on the original set.” Just like Carroll’s fabled Alice on her way down the rabbit hole, King also was experiencing a hard landing in her personal life at the time, as well. The success of the first Friday film had unceremoniously earned King an aggressive, very intelligent stalker. No one knew the dangers and psychological repercussions of such attentions at the time and while an overnight jail stay eventually caused her obsessive admirer to back off, it did nothing for King’s spirit. After a stint studying theater at the London Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (“I got to perform Desdemona in Othello on the Vanbrugh Stage and here’s the cool part – Ted Lange from The Love Boat was my Othello!’), King returned to New York and landed a major role as a crossover character on two ABC soap operas. Upon her first day of filming, though, King began experiencing panic attacks that quickly swelled in intensity. “Everyday it got worse. I couldn’t stand the thought of someone watching me.” King, quickly, relinquished her role and had to re-imagine her life from that moment on.

walkingdistanceStill a fighter, King rebounded with a new creative career as a voice-over artist in California. Working with two teams, the LA Mad Dogs and the cleverly named La La Palooperz, she did character and background voices for seven seasons of Melrose Place and for many major films starring well known stars such as Johnny Depp and Mel Gibson. This honed King’s already considerable talent as she had to bring across the exasperations of telephone operators and the excited cooing of children with only her voice to guide her.

It wasn’t until author Peter Bracke contacted her for his 2005 book Crystal Lake Memories that King considered making a tentative return to the horror arena, though. At Bracke’s urging, King attended her first horror convention and the outpouring of love that she experienced was seemingly the final nail she needed to coffin up the trauma in her past. (At this point, King had also spent several years dealing with the issue in therapy, as well.) “I have never once been scared at a convention,” she claims. “Besides, I have FBI Agent fans on my speed dial. I don’t think anyone would ever mess with me again!”

Maybe, they won’t mess with her – but they certainly will cast her. King has just completed her first acting role in a motion picture since 1981 with Texas horror maverick Mel House’s Walking Distance. “It’s a phenomenal script. I have a delicious character,” King asserts. “It can’t miss.”

For those who can’t wait for Walking Distance’s 2009 release date, one can always keep up to date with King at www.adrienneking.com. With her hauntingly unique artwork available and her bright future intact, one can only browse through the site imagining King’s next revolutionary act. If one keeps in mind the fact that she is the woman who gave every sensitive kid hope for survival with her athletics in Friday the 13th and even singled the doomed future of sequel stalwarts such as Ellie Cornell (Halloween 5), Ali Larter (Final Destination 2), Sara Michelle Gellar (The Grudge 2) and Jay Hernandez (Hostel 2) with her character’s quick demise in Friday the 13th Pt 2, then whatever she comes up with next is sure to be a much anticipated celebration.

Mitchell Wells

Founder and Editor in Chief of Horror Society. Self proclaimed Horror Movie Freak, Tech Geek, love indie films and all around nice kinda guy!!

4 Comments

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  1. Adrienne rocks. It was a honor to work with her…for the first of what I hope will be many more times.

  2. As Adrienne’s sister, I must share with you all how very much she appreciates her fans. Every time she has an opportunity to be meet you, she can’t wait to share her experiences. I know she had a wonderful experience with the Walking Distance ‘family’.
    If you haven’t had a chance to visit her web page, http://www.adrienneking.com, please take the time to do so. She put in many hours to make this special for you. I personally have a few of her prints.
    I can’t wait for the 2009 release of Walking Distance. Adrienne told me it was an awesome experience.
    Brian, I loved the article. Peace out…

  3. Hi Brain,

    As Adrienne’s Fan base coordinator, I have to say that Adrienne is the most generous and the most giving person I have ever met. I am beyond please to always help my friend out when ever I can. Yes Walking Distance is going to be a big hit with the millions of loyal fans that Adrienne acquired when she made a little movie called Friday The 13th!!!

    Brain I lost count now on how many fans have communicated with me, that they can’t wait to see Adrienne the ORIGINAL SCREAM QUEEN back on the big screen again.. Thanks so much for your amazing article Brain in between all the fans can get a copy of the DVD called “HIS NAME WAS JASON” which will be a double disc set. Which hits DVD shelves on February the 3rd 2009. From Anchor Bay DVD. I so encourage all the fans to please visit Adrienne’s web site for the latest news and other fun stuff at http://www.adrienneking.com Thannks again and we will see you at the movies soon.

    Joe Quintanilla,

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