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Hilary Shepard (born Hilary Shapiro on December 10, 1959), alternately billed as Hilary Shepard-Turner, is an American actress and singer. She began her career in the mid-1980s, as co-lead singer and percussionist in the girl group American Girls, while also starting to appear in small roles in film and on television. Her film and television career expanded with larger roles in numerous series and films. She may be best known for her starring role as the evil pirate queen Divatox in Power Rangers Turbo and Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, as well as the genetically enhanced Lauren in two episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Biography

Shepard was born in New York City, New York. In the mid-1980s, Shepard was a co-lead singer and percussionist in the short-lived all-female group American Girls. American Girls originally started as a film project, which fizzled. After some personnel changes and more rehearsing, the band sustained many comparisons to the Go-Go's, who were popular at the time as well assigned to the same label, IRS Records. However, American Girls featured veterans of the all-women band scene including Brie Howard who had played drums for Fanny and Miiko Watanabe who played bass with the Screamin' Sirens. They recorded one album only, which was intended as a demo but was pressed to vinyl in its original form. The eponymous debut album was released in March 1986. The cover shows the band in a hotel room, with alcohol, a deck of cards, and a copy of The National Enquirer. The video for their single "American Girl" received some airplay on MTV. Their song "Androgynous" appeared in the 1986 film Tough Guys and the song "American Girl" appeared on the soundtrack for Out of Bounds. They also opened for The Lords of the New Church on 1986 tour dates.

When that group ended, she moved into acting, appearing in numerous motion picture and television series.

Career

Shepard's film career includes: Summer Lovers (1982), Weekend Pass (1984), Private Resort (1985), Radioactive Dreams (1985), Tough Guys (1986), Hunk (1987), Lucky Stiff (1988), Troop Beverly Hills (1989), Peacemaker (1990), Scanner Cop (1994), Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie (1997), The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), and Going Shopping (2005).

In 1992, she guest-starred in two episodes of Full House's sixth season as KFLH D.J. Julie in "Radio Days" and "Lovers And Other Tanners". In 1994, she played Zena in the film Scanner Cop.

She has appeared as a guest star in several other television series, including The Golden Girls, Full House, Roswell, So Little Time, Crossing Jordan and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Shepard may be best known for her recurring role as the evil pirate queen, Divatox, in the Power Rangers franchise, starting with Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie. During the first half of the Power Rangers Turbo season, Shepard was replaced by actress Carol Hoyt in the role of Divatox while she was on maternity leave.

In 1996, she portrayed two characters on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: the Benzite ensign Hoya in “The Ship” and the genetically enhanced Lauren in "Statistical Probabilities" and "Chrysalis". Her 1996 film, Theodore Rex starring Whoopi Goldberg, was originally intended for theatrical release; the film went direct-to-video, and consequently became the most expensive direct-to-video film ever made at the time of its release.

In 1998, she starred in the TV movie Addams Family Reunion, alongside Tim Curry, Daryl Hannah, Haylie Duff and Ed Begley Jr. Only released on VHS and LaserDisc, the film has never been released on DVD.

Shepard portrayed the lead villain, the chain-smoking Virginia Svelte, in Jurgen Vsych's 2001 film Ophelia Learns to Swim.

In 2017, she was cast in the short film The Order, alongside other former Power Rangers cast members.

In 2018, she acted in the Netflix musical film Paradox, the directorial debut of her friend, actress Daryl Hannah.

Others

Shepard and actress Daryl Hannah co-created two board games, "Love It or Hate It" and "LIEbrary," the latter having been previewed by Hannah on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in December 2005.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music Video

References

1. "Billboard" (PDF). Americanradiohistory.com. February 22, 1986. Retrieved 2016-07-18.
2. Wenzel Art (1 May 1986). Casablanca brings two bands into Rochester Monday, Auburn Citizen
3. Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1986-06-28). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
4. Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1986-06-14). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
5. "Scanner Cop 1 & 2".
6. "Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie (1997)". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
7. Thomas, Kevin (March 28, 1997). "Power Rangers Encounter 'Turbo'-Charged Villainess". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 1, 2010. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
8. Cox, Dan (1996-04-08). "New Line's dino pic extinct from bigscreen". Daily Variety. p. 9.
9. Hubert, Andrea (2008-06-14). "The incredible sulk". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-06-27.
10. Wilkinson, Jack (1996-07-27). "What's new on the home video scene". United Press International.
11. "Addams Family Reunion: The Sequel That Time Forgot". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on 2017-11-20. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
12. Goldberg, Matt (2013-10-31). "THE ADDAMS FAMILY to Be Rebooted as an Animated Film". Collider. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
13. Squires, John (2017-04-13). "Remember When Tim Curry Played Gomez in 'Addams Family Reunion'?!". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
14. "The Order film 2017". henshinjustice.com. Archived from the original on 2016-10-22.
15. The Order movie science fiction.com
16. "The Order on aceofgeeks.net". Archived from the original on 2016-10-22. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
17. D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 7, 2018). "Daryl Hannah Feature Directorial Debut 'Paradox' Snapped Up By Netflix Ahead Of SXSW Premiere". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved April 10, 2018.
18. "SimplyFun Board Games". Liebrary.com. Archived from the original on October 28, 2006. Retrieved October 5, 2006.
19. Erik Arneson. Daryl Hannah designs board game, Liebrary was co-designed by actress Hilary Shepard Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine. About.com. Retrieved 28 April 2006.

External links

• Hilary Shepard at IMDb 
• Hilary Shepard at AllMovie
• Hilary Shepard discography at Discogs
• Hilary Shepard at Rotten Tomatoes
• Hilary Shepard on Facebook
• Hilary Shepard on Twitter

• 1959 births
• American film actresses
• American television actresses
• American voice actresses
• American video game actresses
• Actresses from New York City
• Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni
• Living people
• American Girls (band) members
• American board game designers
• 21st-century American women