Alexandra Powers is an American former

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and

Scientologist Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by the American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It is variously defined as a scam, a business, a cult, or a religion. Hubbard initially developed a set of pseudoscientif ...

Early life

Powers was born in New York City. She grew up in an "artsy, liberal environment" on both coasts with her divorced parents. Her father teaches acting. She said in an interview that her parents "encouraged me to find my own truth". Commenting on her faith, she stated "I pray whenever I feel sad. And I believe that whatever is right will work out." In that same interview, she said that her father was Roman Catholic and her mother

Katharyn Powers Katharyn Michaelian Powers (July 23, 1943 -- December 10, 2024) was a television writer who wrote for several television series from the 1970s through early 2000s. Among the series she has written episodes for are ''Charlie's Angels'', ''Fantasy I ...

was interested in

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...

. Powers' mother wrote for television programs including ''Fantasy Island'' and ''Charlie's Angels''. At the age of six, Powers announced her intentions to become an actress.

Career

Powers appeared in various television and film roles, including ''

Cast a Deadly Spell ''Cast a Deadly Spell'' (1991) is a horror-fantasy detective comedy television film with Fred Ward, Julianne Moore, David Warner, and Clancy Brown. It was directed by Martin Campbell, produced by Gale Anne Hurd, and written by Joseph Dough ...

'', ''

21 Jump Street ''21 Jump Street'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Patrick Hasburgh and Stephen J. Cannell for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It aired from April 12, 1987 to April 27, 1991, spanning 103 episodes over five s ...

'', and ''

Dead Poets Society ''Dead Poets Society'' is a 1989 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Peter Weir and written by Tom Schulman. The film, starring Robin Williams, is set in 1959 at a fictional elite boarding school called Welton Academy, and tells ...

''. In the film '' Rising Sun'', Powers portrayed a

prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

who attempted to seduce the character played by actor

Wesley Snipes Wesley Trent Snipes (born July 31, 1962) is an American actor and martial artist. In a film career spanning more than thirty years, Snipes has appeared in a variety of genres, such as numerous thrillers, dramatic feature films, and comedies, th ...

. She also had a recurring role on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

legal drama ''

L.A. Law ''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher for NBC. It ran for eight seasons and List of L.A. Law episodes, 172 episodes from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. The series cente ...

''. She portrayed "Dusty Brown" in the NBC

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

''A Matter of Justice''. On being successfully cast in the NBC program ''Tonya and Nancy'', Powers commented, "In a lot of ways, it's the role of the year". For the program, she received ice-skating lessons from Dody Teachman, former coach to

Tonya Harding Tonya Maxene Price (née Harding; born November 12, 1970) is an American former figure skater and boxer, and reality television personality. Born in Portland, Oregon, Harding was raised by her mother, who enrolled her in ice skating lessons w ...

. In a review for ''

The Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region, in the United States. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by pare ...

'', Powers received a positive reception: "It should be said that Powers, the Christian lawyer on L.A. Law, is a dead ringer for Tonya ... and that she delivers a convincing performance."

Personal life

In the early 1990s, Powers said she did not adhere to any religion: "I've sort of looked and searched. I was a

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

for about six months." She was married to actor

Barry Del Sherman Barry Del Sherman (born November 10, 1962) is an American stage, film, and television actor. Career Sherman is known for roles in such films as Clive Barker's ''Lord of Illusions''; Brad Dupree, the executive who fires Lester Burnham (Kevin Spa ...

in December 1993, and publicly lamented: "I have to take my ring off when I go to work. And that makes me sad, because I put the ring on and I don't want to ever have to take it off." In the late 1990s she started following the set of beliefs and practices invented by the American author

L. Ron Hubbard Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author and the founder of Scientology. A prolific writer of pulp science fiction and fantasy novels in his early career, in 1950 he authored the pseudoscie ...

, and by 2000 had married Gavin Potter and joined Hubbard's

Sea Organization The Sea Organization or Sea Org is the senior-most status of staff within the Church of Scientology network of corporations, but is not itself incorporated. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Sea Org was started as L. Ron Hubbard's private navy, and ...

of the Church of Scientology.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Powers, Alexandra Living people American child actresses American film actresses American television actresses Former Buddhists Actresses from Manhattan American Scientologists 20th-century American actresses Year of birth missing (living people)