Who is Linnea Quigley? Bio, Spouse, and Family of the Scream Queen

Quick Facts

Linnea Quigley has been making appearances on the screen since the 1970s. She starred in several films in small roles (as an extra) until 1978 when she bagged her first major role in Harry Hurwitz’s sex comedy film, Fairy Tales. Within the movie community, Quigley is popularly known as a “Scream Queen” and the “Queen of B’s” for starring in dozens of cheap horror films which are generally classified as ‘B’ movies. She gained the “Scream Queen” status in 1985 after she delivered a brilliant performance in projects such as Dan O’Bannon’s zombie horror comedy film The Return of the Living Dead, Night Of The Demon, and Deadly Night. 

In addition to acting, Linnea is an author, a dedicated animal rights activist, a singer, film producer, and former model.

Bio – Who is Linnea Quigley?

She is a multi-talented entertainer with a background in singing, modeling, film production, writing, and acting. Her full name is Linnea Barbara Quigley while her date of birth is 27th May 1958. Quigley is a native of Davenport, Iowa, in the United States. She is the only child of William Heath Quigley (father) and Dorothy Quigley (mother). Her dad (born June 27, 1915; died May 18, 2006) was a psychologist and chiropractor who worked at Palmer College of Chiropractic as an executive vice president.

The actress spent her school days in several institutions. She had her elementary studies at Garfield Elementary, from where she joined Sudlow Middle schools in Davenport for further studies. Her next stop was at Bettendorf High School, which is located in Bettendorf, Iowa, where she completed her studies in 1976.

Upon graduating, Linnea Quigley relocated to Los Angeles to live with her parents. While working at a health spa, the actress came across some models who encouraged her to give acting a try. She eventually did while taking up guitar classes. She would go ahead to star in several other ‘B’ movies, with The Return of the Living Dead, Savage Streets, Nightmare Sisters, Night of the Demons, Creepozoids, Bonehill Road, Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers, Silent Night, Deadly Night, being the most prominent and also the projects that helped her to rise to international fame.

The American horror legend began her music career in an all-female band called Mad Whistle, after which she managed to establish her own band known as The Skirts. Along with her friend Haydee Pomar, who played the bass guitar, the band successfully released their song on Mystic Records’ 1983 compilation The Sound of Hollywood Girls. It was titled: Santa Monica Blvd. Boy.

As mentioned earlier, The Return of the Living Dead actress is an animal rights campaigner. She is also an active member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), an American-based animal rights organization. The singer is equally the author of the books – Skin, I’m Screaming as Fast as I Can: My Life in B-Movies, and The Linnea Quigley Bio & Chainsaw Book as well as a vegan who graced the cover of Vegetarian Times in 1990. She started feeding on a vegetarian diet after she moved to the city of Los Angeles in the late 1970s.

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Spouse and Family of the Scream Queen

Linnea Quigley has not remarried since her marital relationship with her husband fell apart. The actress got married to Steve Johnson, a special effect artist on 17th January 1990 and they divorced in 1992. The two started dating in 1988 while working on the film Night of the Demons and subsequently got engaged in the same year while filming A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. While Linnea Quigley’s short-lived union with Steve lasted, they didn’t give birth to offsprings.

Born Steven Marcus Jacobs on 7th February 1960, in Houston, Texas, U.S, Linnea’s ex-husband launched his career in Hollywood in 1980. Since he started working, his projects have been in music videos, numerous TV shows, commercials, theme parks, and hundreds of movies.

You can get to watch some of his best-known creations in films such as Ghostbusters (Slimer), Spider-Man 2 (the multi-tentacled Doc Ock), Bicentennial Man (Robin Williams’ robotics), and Species (the alien seductress Sil). The award-winning special effect artist got married to his second wife, actress Constance Zimmer in 1999 but divorced her two years later.

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