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Julie Strain reinvented
herself at the age of 28 and has since been merchandised on everything
from a Zippo
lighter
to an interactive CD-ROM...and it is all carefully orchestrated and
planned, originally by Julie, but now by Julie in
tandem with her husband, publisher, producer and co-creator of the
Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles, Kevin Eastman.
Together, they have
positioned Julie as the
"Queen of All Media".
She is a genuine cult
heroine. Her series of action/adventure and fantasy movies have earned
her a fan base that
many mainstream stars envy. Julie has been featured on
television,
in music videos
and laser disc.
She is a star
attraction of
calendars, posters and
greeting cards.
In the "Strain-mania" merchandise world, she can be found
on coffee mugs,
dolls,
watches
and countless trading
cards. She retains a major appeal for
art directors and
editors of magazines who want the Strain face and form for covers and
layouts in everything from
Penthouse
to Femme Fatales,
from Vogue
to Cosmopolitan,
from Natural Body
Building to
American Rodder.
Julie even
co-teaches a fine art and photography class at
U.C.L.A.
Julie's current
endeavors are as the main character in the Columbia/Tri-Star $15 million
animated feature,
Heavy Metal:
F.A.K.K.2, and she has
co-produced and starred in the art house, Irish family dramatic comedy,
St. Patrick's Day.
("One of the first films I didn't have to head-butt anyone in!" she
laughs.
Julie can also
currently be seen as
Judge Julie on Playboy TV's
Sex Court. She also has quickly
become the
photographer of choice for models, Playmates and adult entertainers for
their websites.
All in all, an
impressive career for a woman who had to sleep in her truck when she
first arrived in Hollywood
and who admits to being a "painfully thin ugly duckling" in high school.
How did it happen? "I
chose to shoot for
Penthouse
and with the seed money and the
"Pet of the Year"
title,
I started my own business...me", she states.
"I just had a one
hundred percent commitment to success and no regard at all for the
"rules" of show business.
I talked my way into auditions and took every role I was offered,
working to develop my acting skills and a
screen image that I hoped would appeal."
One of her first movies
was
Repossessed with
Leslie Nielsen
and Linda Blair.
She says, "I had two scenes, was
paid $100 and had a trailer with my name on the door. It was the Big
Time!" She did extra work on
Bugsy
and
The Doors,
to name only a couple, as well as a body double for
Geena Davis in Thelma and
Louise. She laughs,
"However, Geena started feeling comfortable with the love scenes with
Brad Pitt, so I was paid but never used!"
Julie Strain grew up in
Concord, California. At age 13, she was already six feet tall and an
outstanding athlete,
but finding adolescence difficult. "I was a wild kid," she admits.
"Always in trouble of one sort or another."
Her first boyfriend
after high school was a body builder and, through him, she began to
develop the physique
that has won her the respect and admiration she has today. To his
credit, he also insisted that Julie attend college.
She earned an AA degree, with honors. Julie had a short body building
career...
Then Julie Strain lost
her past.
It was the result of an
accident. Animal-lover Julie was riding her horse when it was spooked.
Julie sustained
head injuries that left her with amnesia and very few clear memories of
her past life. Taking some time to
recover and travel, while in Las Vegas attending a championship fight,
Julie was spotted by several
entertainment industry executives who showed enough "real" interest for
Julie to travel to Los Angeles.
And the rest, as they
say, is history.
Premier
Magazine, observing her list of
credits in movies such as
Fit to Kill,
Dark Secrets,
Day of the Warriors
and Sorceress,
to name a few, proclaimed her officially "Queen of the B Movies". Julie
says, "They are straight
forward action/adventure/horror/fantasy and often go straight to pay
channels and home video. As my favorite
director, Andy
Sidaris, says, 'Let's go...bring on
the babes, guns and dynamite...we're a thousand shots behind!'
They are popular and they've given me a wonderful, loyal legion of fans.
I'm not saying I'd turn down an 'Oscar'
role in a Hollywood blockbuster, but I know my strengths and I don't
feel compelled to compromise my standards
or represent myself as someone I'm not."
Three years ago, a
96-page hard cover photo/art book of the best of Julie Strain's work
with world renowned
photographers, such as
Helmut Newton,
was published as
It's Only Art If It's Well Hung!. Its follow-up,
The Sex Symbol
Dynasty, was a visit to the Va Va
Voom, classic Hollywood glamour world with business
partners such as
Rhonda Shear and
Dian Parkenson.
Today, the just released
Six Foot One and Worth The Climb
illustrated autobiography is taking the independent book publishing
world by storm and is probably best summarized
by the quote for it given by the 50's pin-up legend, "It's Julie who
keeps the flame of pin-up beauty alive today!"
Now, Julie has an
official internet presence, as well.
Queen of All Media,
indeed!
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