JBarbara Crampton was born on December 27, 1958 in Levittown, New York. Growing up in Vermont, she spent the majority of her childhood summers traveling the country with a roadside carnival that her father worked for. Crampton began acting in school plays in seventh grade and subsequently studied drama in high school. She earned a BA in Theater Arts from Castleton State College and, following graduation, portrayed "Cordelia" in an American Theater of Actors production of "King Lear" in New York.
The young actress then moved to Los Angeles and, in 1983, made her TV debut with a recurring role on the popular daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives (1965). The following year she had a brief, but memorable role in Brian De Palma's Body Double (1984), which was followed by the 1985 comedy Fraternity Vacation (1985). Barbara achieved enduring cult popularity as college coed Megan Halsey in Stuart Gordon's Re-Animator (1985) and, after making a splash in the horror genre, successively starred in From Beyond (1986), Chopping Mall (1986), Puppet Master (1989), and Castle Freak (1995), among others.
Outside of horror, Barbara had recurring roles on daytime television soap operas Guiding Light (1952); The Bold and the Beautiful (1987), and The Young and the Restless (1973), for which won a Soap Opera Digest Award.
Years after retiring from acting to raise a family, Crampton returned to film in 2011 with a role in Adam Wingard's You're Next (2011). She subsequently appeared in number of new films, the majority of which were horror. Highlights of her return include The Lords of Salem (2012), We Are Still Here (2015), and Beyond the Gates (2016).
Crampton's hobbies include skiing, yoga, horseback riding, running, working out with weights, and shopping for antiques at flea markets. She lives outside of San Francisco with her husband, Robert Bleckman, and their two children.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: anonymous
Barbara Crampton's career as an iconic figure in the horror/thriller genres has spanned three decades and continues to gain momentum. Currently, she is starring in and producing the genre thriller, Jakob's Wife, which recently wrapped production in Mississippi. Immediately preceding Jakob's Wife, Barbara completed producing a remake of the Stuart Gordon classic Castle Freak, based on the HP Lovecraft story with Cinestate/Fangoria. Prior to that, she completed work on The Colour of Madness, a thriller shot in Norway. Other features due to be released this year include Run Hide Fight with Thomas Jane and Treat Williams, and King Knight with Aubrey Plaza and Matthew Gray Gubler. Earlier she starred in and produced Beyond the Gates, which won best horror feature in its debut at LA Film Fest. More recent titles as an actress include We Are Still Here, Little Sister, Sun Choke and the award winning Adam Wingard film, You're Next.
For television Barbara recently guest starred on the last season of Channel Zero: The Dream Door (SyFy/UCP). Soon after she starred in an episode of the highly acclaimed film series "Into the Dark: Culture Shock" (Blumhouse / Hulu.)
Barbara has an ongoing column in Fangoria magazine entitled Scene Queen, for which she recently won a "Rondo Hatton Horror Award."
Barbara made her screen debut in 1984's Body Double. Cult classic Re-Animator, in which Barbara portrayed the leading role of Megan Halsey, continues to be a huge fan favorite. Other films Crampton starred in during her early career include: From Beyond, the original Puppet Master and the original Castle Freak. Crampton has won or been nominated for a total of ten acting awards. She has won seven lifetime achievement awards for her contributions to the genre including ones at Grimmfest, Morbido and the Sitges genre film festival in Barcelona. Barbara lives in California with her husband Robert and their two children, Luke and Olivia.