Helen Slater

Helen Rachel Slater is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She is best known for playing the DC Comics superheroine Supergirl in the 1984 film Supergirl, as well as appearing in films such as The Legend of Billie Jean, Ruthless People, The Secret of My Success, City Slickers, Chantilly Lace, Lassie, and No Way Back. She provided the voice of Talia al Ghul in Batman: The Animated Series, portrayed Lara-El in Smallville, and played Eliza Danvers in the 2015 Supergirl TV series.

Early life

Slater was born in Bethpage, New York to Alice Joan, a lawyer and nuclear disarmament peace activist based in New York City; and Gerald Slater, a television executive. Her parents divorced in 1974. She is Jewish. She has a brother, David, who is a lawyer in New York City. Slater attended Great Neck South High School and then transferred to the High School of Performing Arts from which she graduated in 1982.

Career

Film and television

Slater played Supergirl in the 1984 film Supergirl. She has starred in several further films including The Legend of Billie Jean, Ruthless People, The Secret of My Success, and City Slickers. She has additionally found work as an actress in television and stage projects.
Following Supergirl, Slater has made multiple appearances in Superman media such as Superman's mother Lara-El in the TV series Smallville, Supergirl's adoptive mother Eliza Danvers in the Supergirl TV series, and Clark Kent's adoptive mother Martha Kent in DC Super Hero Girls: Hero of the Year and the associated film. Slater's likeness was used to portray Supergirl in a CGI cameo appearance in the film The Flash.
In 1985, DC Comics included Slater as one of the honorees in the company's 50th anniversary publication Fifty Who Made DC Great for her work on the Supergirl film.

Stage work

In 1987, Slater co-founded the New York theater group, Naked Angels, with Gina Gershon. In 1991, she also co-founded, with her husband, Robert Watzke, the L.A. based theater group The Bubalaires.
Slater appeared in two off-Broadway plays: Almost Romance and Responsible Parties. She also starred in The Big Deal at the Pasadena Playhouse.

Music career

In 2003, she released the album, One of These Days, consisting of her original songs. The tracks were real-time recordings with Slater singing and playing piano, accompanied by six other musicians; no multitracking, editing, or dubbing was employed. In 2005, she released a second album, Crossword, which used the same recording approach as her first album. Both albums were produced by Phillip Swann. In 2008, Cortes Alexander recorded Slater's "Any Day Now" and "Love'll Come & Do Just That" on his album Swell. Since then, Slater has released four additional albums: Shine, The Myth of Ancient Greece and The Ugly Duckling, both made for children and Selkie, an eleven-song concept album released as one continuous musical piece.

Writing

In 2010, Slater wrote a Supergirl story, "A Hero's Journey", which appeared in the fiftieth issue of the fifth volume of the Supergirl comic book.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	ABC Afterschool Special	Amy Watson	Episode: "Amy & the Angel"
1988	Improv Tonite	Herself	Guest host
1990	The Great Air Race	Jacqui Cochrane	Television miniseries
1990	Capital News	Anne McKenna	Television film
1991	The Hidden Room	Lauren	Episode: "Wasting Away"
1992	Seinfeld	Becky Gelke	Uncredited; episode: "The Good Samaritan"
1992	Dream On	Sarah	Episode: "Theory of Relativity"
1992–1994	Batman: The Animated Series	Talia al Ghul	Voice, 4 episodes
1993	12:01	Lisa Fredericks	Television film
1993	Chantilly Lace	Hannah	Television film
1994	Couples	Nina	Television film
1994	Parallel Lives	Elsa Freedman	Television film
1997	Caroline in the City	Cassandra Thompson	Uncredited; episode: "Caroline and the Monkeys"
1997	Toothless	Mrs. Lewis	Television film
1997–1998	Michael Hayes	Julie Siegel	3 episodes
1998	Best Friends for Life	Pammy Cahill	Television film
2000	American Adventure	Kathy	Pilot
2001	Will & Grace	Peggy Truman	Episode: "Moveable Feast"
2003	Boston Public	Mrs. McNeal	Episode: "Chapter Seventy-Four"
2004	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Susan Coyle	Episode: "Families"
2005	Grey's Anatomy	Nadia Shelton	Episode: "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer"
2006	Jane Doe: The Harder They Fall	Stella Andre	Television film
2006	The New Adventures of Old Christine	Liz	Episode: "Teach Your Children Well"
2007	Crossing Jordan	Elaine Tallridge	Episode: "Seven Feet Under"
2007–2010	Smallville	Lara-El	3 episodes
2009	Supernatural	Susan Carter	Episode: "Family Remains"
2009	Eleventh Hour	Susan Wynne	Episode: "Medea"
2009	Greek	Dr. Magda Stephanopoulos	Episode: "Guilty Treasures"
2010–2011	Gigantic	Jennifer Brooks	10 episodes
2010	CSI: NY	Elizabeth Harris	Episode: "Do Not Pass Go"
2011	Private Practice	Erin	Episode: "Two Steps Back"
2011	Rock the House	Diane Petersen	Television film
2011	Drop Dead Diva	Penny Brecker	Episode: "Hit and Run"
2011–2013	The Lying Game	Kristin Mercer	Main cast
2013	The Good Mother	Cheryl Jordan	Television film
2014	Caper	Luke's Mom	Episode: "All Hands on Peltas". YouTube and Hulu series.
2014	The Young and the Restless	Dr. Chiverton	4 episodes
2015	Mad Men	Sheila	Episode: "Person to Person"
2015–2021	Supergirl	Eliza Danvers	13 episodes
2015	Agent X	Helen Eckhart	Episode: "Fidelity"
2016	DC Super Hero Girls: Super Hero High	Martha Kent	Voice, television film

Discography

One of These Days
Crossword
Shine
The Myth of Ancient Greece
The Ugly Duckling
''Selkie''