actress who played Alice - Communion (1976) Discussion

[–] TinaKimo 8 years ago

Really? I didn't notice. I was just irritated by her presence. She needed several spankings!

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[–] Calumette 8 years ago

Here's a picture of her; I wonder if that's the reason she never really acted again. there aren't a lot of roles for Down actor/characters.

http://www.wearysloth.com/Gallery/ActorsS/15812-8692.jpg

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[–] lukejbarnett2002 7 years ago

ok down syndrome is corky from life goes on, she doesn't look anything like a down syndrome person. she just looks a little quirky a little different. she doesn't look retarded or anything like that. she looks just unique and different and strange. kind of like a girl with a wonky or lazy eye. she's a very beautiful girl.

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[–] northernlad 7 years ago

She doesn't look anything like a kid with Downs Syndrome.

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[–] iluvnyc 8 years ago

Her CHARACTER is meant to be annoying, irritating and disturbed. Seems the actress did a fine ACTING job in convincing you!! That's what GOOD actors are supposed to do.

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[–] iluvnyc 8 years ago

Oh, good grief, Paula E. Sheppard doesn't have Down Syndrome. Not everyone chooses to make a career out of acting after trying it out! Check out her other film (if you can find a copy -- maybe it's streaming on Netflix?) and you'll realize full well she has no mental disability.

And for the record, her CHARACTER is meant to be annoying, irritating and disturbed. Seems the actress did a fine ACTING job in convincing you!! That's what GOOD actors are supposed to do.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085852/?ref_=nm_knf_t1

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[–] Calumette 8 years ago

There are people with Down Syndrome who are fairly high functioning and I thought perhaps she is one of them; like the actor who played Corky on "life goes on". Look at her physical facial characteristics - I am basing my question on that. She most certainly has a Down Syndrome look.

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[–] lukejbarnett2002 7 years ago

exactly she doesn't look retarded or down syndrome like at all. she just looks unique and quirky like a girl with a lazy eye. and if she looked down syndrome then her character would have had down syndrome. having down syndrome eyes is a pretty specific and particular thing, you either have that look or you don't, there aren't levels of having the down syndrome look with your eyes. she doesn't have the down syndrome look. she just has a weird and unique look. she is very beautiful.

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[–] Ripshin 8 years ago

What a pointless, tacky question.

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[–] Calumette 8 years ago

Why do you think that? I wondered if the fact that she has Down was supposed to be apparent to her character but, because of the time, wasn't addressed so instead she was just thought of as 'weird' or a bit 'off'.
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[–] Ripshin 8 years ago

Obviously, no.

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[–] iluvnyc 8 years ago

FYI - in those days (the 1960s period film is set AND 1970s when it was actually made) kids with Down's were cloistered away in institutions. They were not mainstreamed in regular schools. And if you paid attention to the film, Alice is taken to a psychiatrist - - for emotional/behavioral problems stemming from mental illness, not mental feebleness. Does the doctor ever mention or imply any mental retardation (it was called that then), well, NO.

It's also pretty obvious from Alice's scheming, etc, that she is meant to a precocious, albeit angry and obnoxious, girl -- the very reason a much older actress was utilized (aside from the mature story material). Not at all mentally feeble, rather all too well aware of the world around her. The fact that Paula E. Sheppard was 19 yet a small chested and short teen helped the illusion. Compared to Brooke Shields, who was prematurely tall all her life (she stands at 6 feet today), even at that age they could get away with looking like young sisters. I don't know Sheppard's height, but she was obviously short at 19. Even the actress that played the aunt was 5'8" I think the director hired giraffes that made Sheppard look even tinier!

I've personally known several person with different levels of Down's myself and believe me this actress doesn't "look" like it. Truly, you need to get out more. Or at least search more info and photos on the internet...

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[–] hannahrose313 8 years ago

Small chested? She was pretty well endowed and curvy actually, which is probably why she was either covering her body or shot from the shoulders up. In the shots where you can see her chest, it's obvious she's quite developed in that department. She was just short and had a rather childlike face.

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[–] lukejbarnett2002 7 years ago

exactly but your point about her having to be an adult in this film is not valid and doesn't make sense as Brooke Shields was not an adult in this film featuring violence against her character.

and also they used to use kids in violent scenes back in the '70s. I mean this was the decade where Swedish movies featured nude kids and nobody had a problem with this. the film world was very liberal with what you could show back then.

also are you kidding me? there is no way in the history of the world that the Alice character was played by a 19 year old. she was played by a to the oldest, oldest a 15 year old girl. her character looked 12 years old. it's not possible for a girl of 19 to look like a 12 year old girl.

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[–] kurt7825 8 years ago

no

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[–] cbnspanky2 8 years ago

Did you actually watch the film?

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[–] Calumette 8 years ago

Yes, obviously. And my question is about the actress,not the character.

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[–] basementofterror 8 years ago

I think she's beautiful!

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[–] lukejbarnett2002 7 years ago

me too. but there were times when I looked at her face and thought, ugh, she is ugly because her face is so strange looking and off looking. her eyes are just off looking and she has a homely face. I especially noticed how unattractive and ugly that she is in the scene near the beginning in the house when she is shown in close up. but she is also very beautiful. you just have to look past her ugly face to get to her beautiful face. that is the most clear way I can put how her face looks. her face grows on you with it's beauty as they say.

she's not a 10 or a 9 or an 8. but she is a 7 in the best looking and most beautiful girls rating system.

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[–] [deleted] a year ago

She almost certainly has something. Perhaps a growth hormone defiency of some kind.

It's crazy that she was 19 years old when filming this. She looks like a literal child around 10-12 years old.

She's very short evidently, definitely under 5ft, perhaps in the range of 4ft 8. Also her face is quite stunted, very neotenous.

I guess it could be possible that she's just genetically is very short and baby faced. If so she's a major anomaly. We're talking 0.001% of the population or less.

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