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Rachel Talalay

Rachel Talalay (born July 16, 1958) is an American filmmaker and producer best known for directing films such as Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), Ghost in the Machine (1993), and Tank Girl (1995). Her television credits include episodes of Ally McBeal, Supernatural, Doctor Who, Sherlock, Riverdale, Doom Patrol, Superman & Lois and Quantum Leap.

Talalay is also a professor at the University of British Columbia.[1]

Early life and education

Talalay was born in Chicago. Her father Paul Talalay was a pharmacologist, born in Berlin to a Belarusian Jewish family, and her mother Pamela is an English biochemist. She has two sisters and a brother.[2] She was raised mostly in Baltimore, with two years of her childhood in Britain.[1] Talalay attended Yale University, where she majored in mathematics, graduating in 1980.[3][4] She also ran the Yale Film Society.[3]

Career

Talalay worked in a number of different capacities in filmmaking before making her directorial debut with the film Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991).[5] Talalay also worked on the first four A Nightmare on Elm Street films.[3] Her work with the earlier Nightmare films utilized her computer skills and finding ways to create better special effects while still keeping costs low.[3] Despite her familiarity with the Freddy movies, when she directed Freddy's Dead, she was given internal memos telling her not to be "too girly" or "too sensitive."[6]

Talalay also directed Tank Girl in 1995, and was looking into re-optioning the rights to make a new film in 2008.[7] As a film producer, Talalay worked with director John Waters on the films Hairspray (1988) and Cry-Baby (1990). She was also a production assistant on Waters' 1981 film Polyester.[8]

Talalay states that ever since Doctor Who was revived in 2005, she wanted to work on the show.[9] Talalay directed all three of Peter Capaldi's series finales: series 8's "Dark Water" and "Death in Heaven",[10] series 9's "Heaven Sent" and "Hell Bent"—the former considered by many to be one of the best episodes in the show's history[11]—and series 10's "World Enough and Time" and "The Doctor Falls",[12] as well as the Doctor Who 2017 Christmas special, "Twice Upon a Time".[13] She returned to Doctor Who in 2023 for "The Star Beast" with David Tennant & Catherine Tate returning as the Fourteenth Doctor and Donna Noble as part of the show's 60th anniversary. In 2019, she directed a film adaption of Joe Ballarini's A Babysitter's Guide to Monster Hunting for Netflix.[14]

Personal life

Talalay met British film producer Rupert Harvey while working on Android in 1982. They began a relationship soon after, and were married in 1990, with John Waters officiating the wedding.[4][15] Talalay and Harvey have a daughter named Lucy.[16]

Filmography

Films

Director

Producer

Television

TV movies

TV series

References

  1. ^ a b Bailey, Ian (8 August 2014). "Q&A: UBC professor went from Doctor Who fan to director of this season's finale". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  2. ^ "Dr. Paul Talalay, Johns Hopkins molecular pharmacologist who made broccoli famous as a cancer fighter, dies". The Baltimore Sun. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d Wigler, Stephen (27 September 1991). "'Freddy's Dead' Gives Rise to Career". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016 – via HighBeam Research.
  4. ^ a b Wigler, Stephen (September 8, 1991). "A Friend of Freddy Krueger: Rachel Talalay has worked on five 'Elm Street' films". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  5. ^ "A Nightmare On Elm Street : Interviews – Rachel Talalay". Nightmareonelmstreetfilms.com. 2005-03-22. Retrieved 2014-12-27.
  6. ^ Rohter, Larry (17 March 1991). "Are Women Directors an Endangered Species?". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  7. ^ Anderson, Martin (August 5, 2008). "Rachel Talalay for Tank Girl reboot". Den of Geek!. Archived from the original on May 5, 2018.
  8. ^ Rachel Talalay Biography, Film Reference
  9. ^ Collis, Clark (3 November 2014). "Doctor Who Director Rachel Talalay Talks 'Dark Water'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  10. ^ "Film Prof Directs Doctor Who Season Finale". The University of British Columbia. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  11. ^ Reynolds, Andrew (20 December 2015). "Directing Doctor Who: Rachel Talalay's Notes on Heaven Sent". Katerborous. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  12. ^ "Original Mondasian Cybermen return to Doctor Who!". BBC. 6 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  13. ^ "The 2017 Doctor Who Christmas special will be called..." Radio Times. 23 July 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  14. ^ Fleming, Joe Jr. (April 15, 2019). "Netflix Turning A Babysitter's Guide To Monsters Into Family Film; Rachel Talalay To Direct". Deadline. Archived from the original on April 15, 2019. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  15. ^ Collis, Clark (July 19, 2016). "Rachel Talalay talks going from Tank Girl to Sherlock". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  16. ^ "https://twitter.com/rtalalay/status/1267260469682683905". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-07-07. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  17. ^ "Home – American Gods S2 Presskit". Starz. Retrieved February 12, 2019.

External links