Lori Singer (born November 6, 1957) is an American actress and musician. The daughter of conductor

Jacques Singer Jacques Singer (May 9, 1910 – August 11, 1980) was an American virtuoso violinist, symphony orchestra conductor, and music educator who flourished from about 1925 until a few months before his death in 1980. Career Education Jakob Singer was ...

, she was born in

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi ( ; ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, Texas, Nueces County with portions extending into Aransas County, T ...

, and raised in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, where her father served as the lead conductor of the

Oregon Symphony The Oregon Symphony is an American symphony orchestra based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded as the "Portland Symphony Society" in 1896, it is the sixth oldest orchestra in the United States, and oldest in the Western United States. It ...

from 1962 to 1972. Singer was a musical prodigy, making her debut as a cellist with the Oregon Symphony at thirteen, and was subsequently accepted to the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

, where she became the institution's youngest graduate. In the early 1980s, she signed with

Elite Model Management Elite Model Management (MM) is a modeling agency that originated in Paris in 1972. In 2004, the agencies in New York City, Miami, Los Angeles, and Toronto separated and formed Elite Model Management North America. Elite MM is a subsidiary of El ...

before shifting her focus to acting. She was cast as Julie Miller, a teenage dancer and cellist, in the television series '' Fame'', in which she appeared between 1982 and 1983. Singer gained notice for her lead role as Ariel Moore in the musical drama film ''

Footloose ''Footloose'' is a 1984 American musical drama film directed by Herbert Ross and written by Dean Pitchford. It tells the story of Ren McCormack (Kevin Bacon), a teenager from Chicago who moves to a small town, where he attempts to overturn a b ...

'' (1984). She was later cast in supporting roles in

John Schlesinger John Richard Schlesinger ( ; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director, and actor. He emerged in the early 1960s as a leading light of the British New Wave, before embarking on a successful career in Hollywood ...

's drama ''

The Falcon and the Snowman ''The Falcon and the Snowman'' is a 1985 American spy drama film directed by John Schlesinger. The screenplay by Steven Zaillian is based on the 1979 book ''The Falcon and the Snowman: A True Story of Friendship and Espionage'' by Robert L ...

'' (1985), the comedy '' The Man with One Red Shoe'' (1985), the horror film ''

Warlock A warlock is a male practitioner of witchcraft. Etymology and terminology The most commonly accepted etymology derives '' warlock'' from the Old English '' wǣrloga'', which meant "breaker of oaths" or "deceiver". The term came to apply special ...

'' (1989), and

Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer. He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, known for directing subversive and sat ...

's ensemble drama ''

Short Cuts ''Short Cuts'' is a 1993 American comedy-drama film, directed by Robert Altman. Filmed from a screenplay by Altman and Frank Barhydt, it is inspired by nine short stories and a poem by Raymond Carver. The film is set in Los Angeles, in contr ...

'' (1993). She was nominated for the

Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead The Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead was one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards to honor an actress who has delivered an outstanding lead performance in an independent film. It was first presented in 1985 with Geraldine Page bei ...

for her performance in '' Trouble in Mind'' (1985).

Early life

Singer was born November 6, 1957 in

, to

, a Polish-born conductor and protégé of

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British-born American conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. H ...

, and Leslie (née Wright), a concert pianist. She has a

fraternal twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

brother, Gregory, a violinist; and two older brothers: actor Marc, and Claude. At the time of her birth, Singer's father was working as the conductor of the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra. Singer is of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

descent. When Singer was four years old, she relocated with her family to

, where her father served as lead conductor of the

Portland Symphony Orchestra The Portland Symphony Orchestra (PSO) was established in 1924 in Portland, Maine, United States, as the Amateur Strand Symphony Orchestra. Started by a small group of musicians who had sent out invitations to join their organization to people in t ...

from 1962 to 1972. Singer spent her formative years in Portland, and made her debut as soloist at the age of thirteen with the

. She attended Lincoln High School in Portland. In the summer of 1971, Singer and brother Gregory attended a summer music camp in New York led by cellist

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is a French-born American Cello, cellist. Born to Chinese people, Chinese parents in Paris, he was regarded as a child prodigy there and began to study the cello with his father at age four. At the age of seven, ...

. Singer was accepted into the

at age fourteen, where she became the youngest graduate of the institution. After graduating from Juilliard, Singer performed with the

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington, United States. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, s ...

Symphony Orchestra.

Career

1980–2006: Acting career

After completing her studies at Juilliard, Singer signed with Elite Modeling Agency. She continued to perform as a concert soloist, and in 1980 won the Bergen Philharmonic Competition. She subsequently shifted her focus to acting, inspired by her brother, Marc. Commenting on her decision to pursue a career as an actress, she said: "In a world where such terrible things are happening, it's just so fantastic to become someone else." In 1982, Singer was cast as Julie Miller, a shy high school student, in the television series '' Fame'', and appeared in the first two seasons. The role of Miller, a teenage dancer and cellist, was written specifically for Singer's talents. In 1983, she and a number of other cast members—under the group name the Kids from "Fame"—performed a live concert at

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

, which was recorded and released as a live album. Singer starred in the TV movie ''Born Beautiful'' (1983), for which was awarded Newcomer of the Year at

ShoWest Cinema United, formerly known as the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), is an American trade organization whose members are the owners of movie theaters. Most of the operators of worldwide List of movie theater chains, major theat ...

. One year later, she won the ShoWest Breakthrough Performer of the Year Award for her role as Ariel Moore, the female lead in ''

'' (1984). She starred in a number of other movies, including ''

'' (1985) and '' The Man with One Red Shoe'' (1985). Her role in '' Trouble in Mind'' (1985) led to her nomination for an

. Singer has also had roles in ''

Equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun appears directly above the equator, rather than to its north or south. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise directly east and set directly west. This occurs twice each year, arou ...

'' (1992), '' Summer Heat'' (1987), ''

'' (1989), '' Sunset Grill'' (1993), '' F.T.W.'' (1994), and the

film ''

'' (1993). She was awarded a Golden Globe as an actor for "Best Ensemble" for ''Short Cuts''. The ''Short Cuts'' cast won awards for best ensemble at the 50th Venice International Film Festival and the 51st Golden Globe Awards. In 1995, she played Sydney Bloom, the lead character in the

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

TV series '' VR.5''. In addition to her acting, she produced ''Summer Heat'' and was involved in the creative conception of ''VR.5''. In 1997, Singer acted in the fourth episode of the series ''

Inspired by Bach Inspired by Bach, a part of ''Sony Classical celebrates Bach'', presented the contemporary cellist Yo-Yo Ma performing the six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello by Johann Sebastian Bach, in a series of six films, each showing a collaboration with ...

'', where she also played the cello with

, whose summer music camp she had attended in 1971.

2007–present

Singer performed as a soloist at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

in January 2008, premiering a hymn written by

Karl Jenkins Sir Karl William Pamp Jenkins, , Honorary Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, HonFLSW (born 17 February 1944) is a Welsh multi-instrumentalist and composer. His best known works include the song "Adiemus (song), Adiemus" (1995, from the Adi ...

in memory of

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

In May 2011, Singer returned to television with a guest-starring role on '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''. In 2013, Singer executive produced with Sheila Nevins, HBO, and

Jessica Kingdon Jessica Kingdon is a Chinese Americans, Chinese American director and producer. She was nominated for the 2022 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for directing the documentary Ascension (film), ''Ascension''. Career Kingdon received her ...

the documentary '' Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God'', directed by

Alex Gibney Philip Alexander Gibney (; born October 23, 1953) is an American documentary film director and producer. In 2010, ''Esquire'' magazine said Gibney "is becoming the most important documentarian of our time." Gibney's works as director include ''T ...

. In 2012 the film won the Grierson Award at the London Film Festival and it also won the Chicago International Film Festival's award. In 2013, the film won the Best Feature Documentary category in the Irish Film and Television Awards. In the United States, the film was nominated for five prime-time Emmy awards; it won three: Exceptional Merit in Documentary Film Making, Outstanding Writing, and Best Editor. The film was short-listed for the Academy Awards in 2013 and was nominated for a Writers Guild Award. In 2014 the documentary was awarded a Peabody Award. In 2017 she narrated the documentary '' God Knows Where I Am'' which won 17 film festivals, an Emmy and streamed on Netflix in 2019. She also performed "Linda's Song" with Paul Cantelone for the soundtrack of the film.

Personal life

Singer married lawyer Richard David Emery in 1980."Actress Sues Famed Lawyer–Hubby for $20M"
''New York Post''. Retrieved February 27, 2013. They divorced in 1996.

Filmography

Television

Music videos

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Singer, Lori Living people Actresses from Portland, Oregon Actresses from Texas American film actresses American television actresses Classical musicians from Texas Jewish American actresses Jewish American classical musicians Jews from Oregon Jews from Texas Juilliard School alumni Lincoln High School (Portland, Oregon) alumni Musicians from Portland, Oregon Oregon Symphony Texas classical music Volpi Cup winners 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 1957 births Classical musicians from Oregon