The Brooklyn-born actress’s career gained traction from her role in Robert Zemeckis’ Beatle-mania-themed 1978 film I Wanna Hold Your Hand.
Advertisement
Michael Chiklis, who played Saldana’s TV husband in The Commish, tweeted his sadness at hearing of her passing.
Ms Saldana underwent four hours of surgery and received 28 pints of blood as medics battled to save her life. Saldana’s work on the show earned her a Golden Globe nomination for supporting actress in 1993. A decade prior to that, she played Carlotta Quivar on NBC’s cancelled daytime drama series, Santa Barbara.
Unfortunately, Saldana’s on-screen charisma also caught the attention of Scottish drifter Arthur Richard Jackson, who traveled to California in 1982, tracked Saldana down with the aid of a private investigator, and stabbed her 10 times in the chest and torso.
Saldina, speaking about playing herself and recreating the attack, said she hoped it would make a difference, “not just to victims of crime but to others who have been through a tragedy, that you can get through nearly anything”.
Theresa Saldana died Monday at age 61, according to a report. An advocate for victim’s rights, whose own story of stalking-related trauma inspired her to found an organization devoted to helping other survivors of violence, Saldana was 61.
Saldana was also known for starting the the Victims for Victims Foundation after being attacked by a stalker in 1982.
But it was her role in Martin Scorsese’s 1980 film “Raging Bull” that really seemed to signal her emergence.
Advertisement
Saldana also famously starred alongside Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci in “Raging Bull”. Hooker, Cagney & Lacey, and MacGyver. She later retired from acting in 2004. “My family and I extend our love, condolences & support to her family in their time of grieving”, Chiklis wrote on Twitter Tuesday. Saldana showed she had great personal strength by surviving a brutal knife attack by a fan against her, and she used the attack to motivate her to achieve ever greater heights as an actress.
