Rebecca Schaeffer

Schaeffer was born on November 6, 1967, in Eugene, Oregon, the only child of Danna Olivia Schaeffer (née Wilner) and Benson Schaeffer. Her mother was a writer and instructor who taught at Willamette University and Portland Community College, and her father worked as a child psychologist. Schaeffer was raised in Portland, where she attended Lincoln High School. She was raised Jewish and initially aspired to become a rabbi, but she began modeling during her junior year in high school. She appeared in department store catalogues and television commercials, and as an extra in a television film. In 1984, when she was 16, she worked a summer in New York City with Elite Model Management and with her parents' permission stayed in the city to pursue modeling. ==Career==

While working in New York, Schaeffer attended Professional Children's School. She also had a short-term role on the daytime soap opera Guiding Light. In late 1984, Schaeffer landed the role of Annie Barnes on ABC's One Life to Live for a stint that lasted six months. During this time, she attempted to further her modeling prospects. At , she was considered too short for high-fashion modeling and struggled to find work. In 1985, she moved to Japan in hopes of finding more modeling jobs, but still encountered difficulty due to her height and weight. Schaeffer moved to Los Angeles to live with Dawber and Dawber's husband, fellow actor Mark Harmon, during her work on the series. My Sister Sam was initially a hit, ranking in the top 25, but it was canceled halfway through its second season in April 1988 due to falling ratings. ==Murder==

On July 18, 1989, Robert John Bardo, a 19-year-old male from Tucson, Arizona, an unemployed janitor who previously worked at a Jack in the Box restaurant, shot and killed Schaeffer at her home in West Hollywood. At the time of her death, she had been stalked by Bardo for three years. With the help of his brother, he acquired a Ruger GP100 .357 revolver. Bardo traveled overnight from Tucson to Los Angeles for a third time and roamed the Fairfax neighborhood where Schaeffer lived, asking people if she actually lived there. Schaeffer lived alone at her apartment as the script from the upcoming film project was expecting to be delivered, so Schaeffer answered the door, and Bardo ultimately showed up who presented her a manila envelope with letter and autograph that she had previously sent him; after a short conversation, she asked him not to come to her home again. He went to a diner nearby and had breakfast, then returned to her apartment an hour later. Los Angeles Police Department Detective Dan Andrews was the first policeman to arrive at the scene, and Schaeffer was rushed to the emergency room of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead 30 minutes after her arrival. She was buried at Ahavai Sholom Cemetery in her hometown of Portland, Oregon. == Aftermath ==

Tucson Police Department Chief Peter Ronstadt arrested Bardo as he was returning to Tucson the next day after motorists reported a man running through traffic on Interstate 10. He immediately confessed to the murder. Marcia Clark, later known for her role as lead prosecutor in the O. J. Simpson murder case, prosecuted the case against him. Bardo was convicted on October 29, 1991 of first-degree aggravated murder in a bench trial and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. As a result of this incident, federal law regarding the release of personal information through the DMV was changed. Schaeffer's parents Benson and Danna, became advocates on gun control safety following her death, the Driver's Privacy Protection Act, which prevents the DMV from releasing private addresses, was enacted to the United States Congress in 1994. Her death also helped prompt the 1990 passing of America's first anti-stalking laws, including California Penal Code 646.9. At the time of her death, Schaeffer was dating director Brad Silberling. Her death influenced his film Moonlight Mile (2002) about a man's grief after his fiancée is murdered. Shortly after Schaeffer's death, Pam Dawber and her My Sister Sam co-stars Joel Brooks, David Naughton, and Jenny O'Hara reunited and filmed a public service announcement for the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence in her honor, and was eventually enacted in 1993 by President Bill Clinton. Danna Schaeffer would launch the lobbying group of Oregonians Against Gun Violence in 1990. Danna died at the age of 78 on November 6, 2022, on what would have been Schaeffer's 55th birthday, following complications from aortic valve replacement. ==Filmography==