User:Kwib/Teri Beckerman

Teri Beckerman is an American former actress, dancer and figure skater, primarily known for her role as a Muse in the 1980 movie Xanadu.

Early life and family

Teri Helene Beckerman was born on April 7, 1953, in Los Angeles, California, into a family with deep roots in both the legal and entertainment worlds. Her uncle, Lew Wasserman, was a Hollywood legend, known for his work as a talent agent and studio executive, and his marriage to Teri’s aunt, Edie Beckerman, connected the family closely with the entertainment elite.

Teri’s father, Robert J. Beckerman, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1912. He began his career as an attorney in Cleveland before the family relocated to California after 1950, settling in Los Angeles before Teri was born. Her grandfather, Henry Beckerman, was an attorney who famously represented Moe Dalitz, the head of Cleveland’s Jewish mob. The Beckerman's had German and Hungarian roots. Teri’s mother, Jeanelle "Jan" Zeiger, born in 1920, had Hungarian and Austrian roots and worked in the financial sector at Hornblower & Weeks-Hemphill, Noyes, a prominent brokerage firm.

Teri’s older sister, Denise, born in Ohio in 1943, was also a talented ice skater. In 1960, Denise performed a Scene de Ballet from Offenbach at the Polar Palace in Los Angeles, an event featured in the Los Angeles Evening Citizen newspaper. Both sisters shared a passion for ice skating, and Teri would follow in her sister’s footsteps, becoming a double gold medal figure skater herself.

Teri attended Hollywood High School and in 1971 was recognized as one of the areas "A" students by the Los Angeles Times.

Career

In 1971, Beckerman's skating prowess led to her being signed for the Ice Palace show, a summer replacement program on CBS, showcasing her abilities to a national audience.

Beckerman's acting career was most prominent in the late 1970s and early 1980s. After a small role in the 1978 movie The Bay City Rollers Meet the Saturday Superstars, she was cast as an immortal Muse in Xanadu. She featured prominently in both the opening I'm Alive sequence as well as in the films climatic musical extravaganza in the newly opened Xanadu club.

She has had several of roles in popular TV shows of the era, including:

Quincy, M.E. (1980–1981, TV Series) as Nurse Wilson and Nora
The Outlaws (1984, TV Movie) as Arlene
The Red-Light Sting (1984, TV Movie) as Bibi
Simon & Simon (1984, TV Series) as Reporter
Street Hawk (1985, TV Series) as Reporter #4

Her film credits include:

The Bay City Rollers Meet the Saturday Superstars (1978, TV Movie)
Xanadu (1980, Feature Film) as Muse #8
M.A.D.D.: Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (1983, TV Movie) as Vicki
The Invisible Woman (1983, TV Movie) as Receptionist

Personal life

Beckerman married Franklin Gustafson and continues to be active in the dance community of Los Angeles.