Anya Major (born 1966) is an English athlete, actress, model and singer who starred in

Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer Co ...

's "1984" commercial and, in 1985, appeared as "Nikita" in the video to

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

's song of the same name.

Career

"1984" advertisement

In 1983, the Chiat/Day advertising agency held a

casting call In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra to land the role of a character in a script, screenpla ...

in London, on behalf of their client, Apple Computer, for what would prove to be a landmark

television commercial A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

. The vision of the agency and director

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...

stipulated an actress capable of running up to a large video screen, spinning with a

sledgehammer A sledgehammer is a tool with a large, flat, massive, often metal head, attached to a long wooden or solid handle. The long handle is combined with a heavy head which allows the sledgehammer to pick up momentum during a swing and applying a large ...

, and releasing it at the video screen. Most of the models and actresses tested struggled to do this; one errant throw nearly struck a passerby at the Hyde Park casting call. She won the role with her ability to handle the hammer convincingly. The commercial officially aired only twice on American television. It was first screened in December 1983, right before the 1:00 am sign-off on

KMVT KMVT (channel 11) is a television station in Twin Falls, Idaho, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW Plus. It is owned by Gray Media alongside low-power Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate KSVT-LD (channel 14). The two stations share studios o ...

Twin Falls, Idaho Twin Falls is the county seat of and the largest city in Twin Falls County, Idaho, United States. The city had a population of 51,807 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census.

, so that it would be eligible for advertising industry awards for that year. In addition, starting on January 17, 1984 it was screened prior to previews in movie theaters for a few weeks. Its best-known appearance was just after half-time of

Super Bowl XVIII Super Bowl XVIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1984, at Tampa Stadium between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion and defending Super Bowl XVII champion 1983 Washington Redskins season, Washington Redskins and t ...

on 22 January 1984. Even with these limited appearances, the ad created such a media frenzy that it gained many subsequent free TV airings and print mentions, as it was discussed in the media.

"Nikita" music video

Major later portrayed "Nikita" in the

1985

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for his song of the same name. As a spin-off, she released a single named "Moscow Nights" using the name Anya, and with that name, in 1987, she released another song named "One Word".

Later life

In 2006,

Andy Hertzfeld Andrew Jay Hertzfeld (born April 6, 1953) is an American software engineer who was a member of Apple Computer's original Macintosh development team during the 1980s. After buying an Apple II in January 1978, he went to work for Apple Computer fr ...

of the Macintosh development team incorrectly stated that Major had died of breast cancer in 2000. As of 2009, she was living in England with her husband Kim Rajah and their three children. More recently in 2016, she starred in the documentary "Silicon Cowboys" produced by Jason Cohen, to represent her involvement in the Macintosh commercial.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Major, Anya 1966 births English actresses Living people Apple Inc. advertising