APPHOTO NY108M: FILE – In this July 1992 file photo, actress Theresa Saldana, co-star of the ABC series “The Commish“, poses for a portrait in Los Angeles.
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Theresa Saldana, an actress and victims advocate, died Monday in Los Angeles at the age of 61.
Saldana received a 1994 supporting actress Golden Globe nomination for her work as the wife of small town police commissioner Tony Scali, played by Michael Chiklis.
Saldana appeared on an astonishing 37 television shows over the course of her career, including such long-running favorites as Law & Order and MacGyver.
Between 1991 and 1996 she starred in drama The Commish.
She survived the attack when a Sparkletts water truck driver came to her rescue and subdued her attacker until police arrived.
Saldana was also known for starting the the Victims for Victims Foundation after being attacked by a stalker in 1982.
Saldana’s stalker was Arthur Richard Jackson, who became obsessed with her after seeing “Defiance” and then Raging Bull. Through a private eye, he managed to call her mother and bait her into telling him Theresa’s address.
She first gained attention in Robert Zemeckis’s 1978 film I Wanna Hold Your Hand and, after her recovery, became a familiar presence on episodic TV. Her memoir, Beyond Survival, was published in 1987.
She retired from acting in 2004, but remained an active victims’ advocate until her death.
Her former costar tweeted about her death on Tuesday.
Brooklyn native Saldana had appeared in a number of films in the late 1970s and early ’80s, including as the wife of Joey La Motta (Joe Pesci) in Best Picture Oscar nominee Raging Bull, when she was the victim of a horrific assault.
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Twitter users shared memories of the actress. “My family and I extend our love, condolences & support to her family in their time of grieving”. She is survived by her husband and a daughter.
