Lori Singer

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title: "Lori Singer" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["living-people", "actresses-from-portland,-oregon", "actresses-from-texas", "american-film-actresses", "american-television-actresses", "classical-musicians-from-texas", "jewish-american-actresses", "jewish-american-classical-musicians", "jews-from-oregon", "jews-from-texas", "juilliard-school-alumni", "lincoln-high-school-(portland,-oregon)-alumni", "musicians-from-portland,-oregon", "oregon-symphony", "texas-classical-music", "volpi-cup-winners", "20th-century-american-actresses", "21st-century-american-actresses", "1957-births", "classical-musicians-from-oregon"] description: "American actress and classical musician (born 1957)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lori_Singer" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American actress and classical musician (born 1957) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Lori Singer
image	Lori Singer (2014).jpg
caption	Singer in 2014
birth_date
birth_place	Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S.
height	5 ft
alma_mater	Juilliard School
education	Lincoln High School
known_for
occupation
years_active	1982–present
spouse
children	1
relatives	Marc Singer (brother)
father	Jacques Singer
website
::

| name = Lori Singer | image = Lori Singer (2014).jpg | image_size = | caption = Singer in 2014 | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | height = 5 ft | alma_mater = Juilliard School | education = Lincoln High School | known_for = | occupation = | years_active = 1982–present | spouse = | children = 1 | relatives = Marc Singer (brother) | father = Jacques Singer | website =

Lori Singer (born November 6, 1957) is an American actress and musician. The daughter of conductor Jacques Singer, she was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, and raised in Portland, Oregon, where her father served as the lead conductor of the Oregon Symphony from 1962 to 1972. Singer was a musical prodigy, making her debut as a cellist with the Oregon Symphony at thirteen, and was subsequently accepted to the Juilliard School, where she became the institution's youngest graduate.

In the early 1980s, she signed with Elite Model Management before shifting her focus to acting. She was cast as Julie Miller, a teenage dancer and cellist, in the television series Fame, in which she appeared between 1982 and 1983. Singer gained notice for her lead role as Ariel Moore in the musical drama film Footloose (1984). She was later cast in supporting roles in John Schlesinger's drama The Falcon and the Snowman (1985), the comedy The Man with One Red Shoe (1985), the horror film Warlock (1989), and Robert Altman's ensemble drama Short Cuts (1993). She was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in Trouble in Mind (1985).

Early life

Singer was born November 6, 1957 At the time of her birth, Singer's father was working as the conductor of the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra. Singer is of Jewish descent.

When Singer was four years old, she relocated with her family to Portland, Oregon, where her father served as lead conductor of the Portland Symphony Orchestra from 1962 to 1972. Singer spent her formative years in Portland, and made her debut as a cello soloist at the age of thirteen with the Oregon Symphony. In the summer of 1971, Singer and brother Gregory attended a summer music camp in New York led by cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

Singer was accepted into the Juilliard School at age fourteen, where she became the youngest graduate of the institution. After graduating from Juilliard, Singer performed with the Western Washington University Symphony Orchestra.

Career

1980–2006: Acting career

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Lori_Singer,_Bestanddeelnr_932-5471.jpg" caption="Fame]] in 1983"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Uitbundige_groep_met_ondermeer_Danny_(Carlo_Imperato)_(l),Debbie_Allen(m)_en,_Bestanddeelnr_932-5469.jpg" caption="With [[the Kids from "Fame"]] (1983). Singer is in center, behind [[Debbie Allen"] ::

After completing her studies at Juilliard, Singer signed with Elite Modeling Agency.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Bruce_Abbott_and_Lori_Singer_–_Summer_Heat.jpg" caption="Summer Heat]]'' (1987)"] ::

Singer starred in the TV movie Born Beautiful (1983), for which was awarded Newcomer of the Year at ShoWest. One year later, she won the ShoWest Breakthrough Performer of the Year Award for her role as Ariel Moore, the female lead in Footloose (1984). She starred in a number of other movies, including The Falcon and the Snowman (1985) and The Man with One Red Shoe (1985). Her role in Trouble in Mind (1985) led to her nomination for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead.

Singer has also had roles in Equinox (1992), Summer Heat (1987), Warlock (1989), Sunset Grill (1993), F.T.W. (1994), and the Robert Altman film Short Cuts (1993). She was awarded a Golden Globe as an actor for "Best Ensemble" for Short Cuts.

The Short Cuts cast won awards for best ensemble at the 50th Venice International Film Festival and the 51st Golden Globe Awards. In 1995, she played Sydney Bloom, the lead character in the science fiction TV series VR.5. In addition to her acting, she produced Summer Heat and was involved in the creative conception of VR.5.

In 1997, Singer acted in the fourth episode of the series Inspired by Bach, where she also played the cello with Yo-Yo Ma, whose summer music camp she had attended in 1971.

2007–present

Singer performed as a soloist at Carnegie Hall in January 2008, premiering a hymn written by Karl Jenkins in memory of Martin Luther King Jr.

In May 2011, Singer returned to television with a guest-starring role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

In 2013, Singer executive produced with Sheila Nevins, HBO, and Jessica Kingdon the documentary Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, directed by Alex Gibney. In 2012 the film won the Grierson Award at the London Film Festival and it also won the Chicago International Film Festival's award. In 2013, the film won the Best Feature Documentary category in the Irish Film and Television Awards. In the United States, the film was nominated for five prime-time Emmy awards; it won three: Exceptional Merit in Documentary Film Making, Outstanding Writing, and Best Editor. The film was short-listed for the Academy Awards in 2013 and was nominated for a Writers Guild Award. In 2014 the documentary was awarded a Peabody Award. In 2017 she narrated the documentary God Knows Where I Am which won 17 film festivals, an Emmy and streamed on Netflix in 2019. She also performed "Linda's Song" with Paul Cantelone for the soundtrack of the film.

Personal life

Singer married lawyer Richard David Emery in 1980. They divorced in 1996.

Filmography

::data[format=table]

Year	Film	Role	Notes	Ref.	1983	1984	1985	1985	1985	1987	1987	1989	1990	1992	1993	1993	1994	1997	2004	2005	2013	2015	2017	2017	2023
Born Beautiful	Jodi Belcher	Television film
ShoWest Newcomer of the Year Award
Footloose	Ariel Moore	ShoWest Breakthrough Performer of the Year Award
The Falcon and the Snowman	Lana
The Man with One Red Shoe	Maddy
Trouble in Mind	Georgia
Made in U.S.A.	Annie
Summer Heat	Roxie	Film
Warlock	Kassandra
Storm and Sorrow	Molly Higgins	Television film
Equinox	Sharon Ace		O
Sunset Grill	Loren
Short Cuts	Zoe Trainer
F.T.W.	Scarlett Stuart
Sarabande	Dr France
When Will I Be Loved	Herself
Little Victim	Tracy	Short film
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God	N/A	Executive producer, Peabody Award winning documentary film
Experimenter	Florence Asch
The Institute	Madame Werner
God Knows Where I Am	Linda Bishop	Narration; title voice role, film role, cello soundtrack
Rachel Hendrix	Rachel Hendrix
::

Television

::data[format=table]

Year	Film	Role	Notes	Ref.	1982–1983	1990	1995	1997	2011
Fame	Julie Miller	NBC Television series
American Playhouse	Therese	Episode: "Sensibility and Sense"
VR.5	Sydney Bloom	Television series
Inspired by Bach	Dr. Angela France	Episode: "Bach Cello Suite #4: Sarabande"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Dede Aston	Television series (Season 12, Episode 22)
::

Music videos

::data[format=table]

Year	Song	Artist	Notes	Ref.	1986	1989
Heartbeat	Don Johnson
On Our Own	Bobby Brown
::

References

References

1. Klemesrud, Judy. (August 2, 1985). "Lori Singer Breaks Free of Teen Roles with 'Shoe'". [[Sun-Sentinel]].
2. "Lori Singer". [[Rotten Tomatoes]].
3. "Celebrities: Jake Gyllenhaal".
4. Long, Genevieve J.. (9 December 2008). "Making "Good Music" The Oregon Symphony and Music Director Jacques Singer, 1962–1971". [[History Cooperative]].
5. English, Jeryme. (December 10, 1971). "Post Concert Supper". [[Statesman Journal]].
6. Mann, Roderick. (February 1, 1986). "Lori Singer Still Has Her Music". [[Los Angeles Times]].
7. [http://sites.google.com/site/famemoviesandtvseriesdirectory/lori-singer-interview-looking-back-at-footloose-2010 "Lori Singer Interview: Looking Back at Footloose, 2010"], Fame (Movies and TV Series) Directory
8. "DCINY's Inaugural 2008 Concert". dciny.org.
9. (July 2019)

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::