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Deborah Reed is best known for her over the top portrayal of the Queen of Goblins in cult classic Troll 2 (1990). Her love of performing began at an early age, when she would create zany characters for anyone willing to be a captive audience. A native of Utah, at five years old she moved with her family to Lafayette, California, where they remained until she was fifteen. Once back in Utah she was shy, not involved in popular school activities; but when asked, played the part of Yvette in "Pillow Talk". She received her first true encouragement when near the end of her senior year, performed a Shakespearean monologue as
Deborah Reed is best known for her over the top portrayal of the Queen of Goblins in cult classic Troll 2 (1990). Her love of performing began at an early age, when she would create zany characters for anyone willing to be a captive audience. A native of Utah, at five years old she moved with her family to Lafayette, California, where they remained until she was fifteen. Once back in Utah she was shy, not involved in popular school activities; but when asked, played the part of Yvette in "Pillow Talk". She received her first true encouragement when near the end of her senior year, performed a Shakespearean monologue as Juliet in drama class. To her shock there was a resounding applause then high praise from her teacher. A respected actor-classmate told her, "I wish I could let go the way you do." She soon performed in her first film, "Educated Heart", with Anthony Geary and Anne Archer, but the film was never picked up.
In 1970 her family moved to Spokane, Washington. It was there she began performing in musical theater, including "Oliver" and "Hello Dolly", while honing her skills as both playwright and director. She would never forget the first times witnessing an entire audience whimpering - nose blows included - after a dramatic performance of hers or howling with laughter at something she had written. She was hooked. The desire to touch people's hearts through media was entrenched and has never left her.
In 1980, Deborah joined the renowned McCarty Agency where, over the next twenty years, she worked extensively as a print model, makeup artist, and actor in film and hundreds of television ads. With her passion for children's self-esteem, she created a forum of children's classes as a means of introducing them to skills and confidence needed in 'the industry' while developing habits of positive thinking and self-respect for which she became instructor for the next fifteen years. In1989, Deborah landed the role of Creedence Leonore Gielgud, in Troll 2 (1990), the quirky film by Italian director, Claudio Fragasso. With her lifelong love of camp, it was a perfect fit. She completely 'let go' when auditioning for the part, a scene later to become a fan favorite.
Deborah took a sabbatical from the industry from 1997 - 2000 when hired as Executive Assistant to United States Congressman Merrill Cook, with whom she had worked when hired as makeup artist during the campaign trail. After Cook took Office, he offered Deborah the much sought after job, telling her he appreciated her obvious love of people, her passion for those in need and love of The Arts, saying she could truly make a difference. She was both surprised and hesitant, but agreed to give it a try. Her areas of Special Interest were Youth, Disabilities, Heritage Foundation, and the Arts and Humanities. Among her accomplishments, she spearheaded the Bicentennial Local Legacies project, which documented Utah's Native American community through film, recording, photos and other multimedia and culminated at an event in Washington DC, celebrating 200 years of The Library of Congress. Cook has largely credited her for his receiving multiple awards from the National Endowment for the Arts. During Cook's second term, Deborah also performed as Press Secretary. For the following two years, Deborah produced and co-hosted radio program, "The Merrill Cook Show", writing and producing all the commercial spots.
In 2004, Deborah's over twenty year marriage was over. To cope, she threw herself into a new pursuit, working as a mural and Trompe l'oeil artist. She soon met her husband, radio personality Randy Holman. They started their own multimedia production company, producing a television series they co-hosted, "It's All About Homes", as well as documentaries and TV commercials for clients. Deborah usually wrote ads with a camp flavor, creating zany characters often portrayed by Randy and herself. They ran the company together until Randy's untimely death from cancer in 2012.
Finding humanity through humor is most often the driving force behind Deborah's work and remains a priority in her current work as a writer and blogger. As of 2016, her focus has been on her first children's picture book, "When Bugs Are Bugging You", and middle-grade novel, "Flump - Book One: The Gaseous Ghost", which she claims contains a few cryptic Troll 2 (1990) references. Deborah has two sons: artist/animator Gavin Reed, and software engineer Remington Reed, founders of the company, Hey Bud Games.
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