Last week, Amanda Peterson, star of the iconic ’80s Patrick Dempsey flick Can’t Buy Me Love died at age 43.
Peterson’s career never really progressed beyond her role as Cindy Mancini opposite Dempsey and her post-acting life was a mix of arrest and incidents until her passing last week. Like her co-star, we too will always remember her as young and vibrant – Cindy Mancini, senior, captain of the cheerleaders.
It’s in her memory that we present this favourite ’80s movie crushes edition of The Rundown.
Phoebe Cates – Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Jennifer Jason Leigh was quite crush-worthy in this Amy Heckerling classic as well, but Cates coming out of the pool in that red bikini is still a sight to behold.
Molly Ringwald – Sixteen Candles / The Breakfast Club / Pretty in Pink
Let’s just call her Andie Samantha Clair Baker-Standish-Walsh and let’s just admit that we loved her no matter what. Three movies, three years and we were hooked on Ringwald. It’s cool that she’s making a little comeback too, even if it is in the horrific looking Jem and the Holograms movie.
Kelly McGillis – Top Gun
The first time we saw Top Gun, we were too young to think about twists and swerves and how they were going to make “Maverick” singing to the gorgeous blonde in the bar something more than “Maverick” singing to a gorgeous blonde in a bar. Having McGillis turn up as Charlie was a big surprise and McGillis in a flight suit was something we couldn’t get enough of.
Rebecca De Mornay – Risky Business
We’re going back-to-back Cruise ladies and while, yes, technically, she was a prostitute – or at the very least a madam – she was still smoking hot. We all wanted to do the socks/shades/shirt Bob Seager routine and we all wanted to sleep with the sultry older woman from Risky Business.
Janet Jones – Police Academy 5
This was less about “Hey – that chick from Police Academy 5 is smoking hot!” and more about “Wayne Gretzky’s actress girlfriend is smoking hot!” People in Edmonton wanted to make her out to be Yoko Ono splitting up The Beatles and blamed her for “The Great One” getting shipped to Los Angeles. Every guy outside of Edmonton just wanted to make out with her.
Diane Lane – The Outsiders
Cherry Valance was the starting point of Lane’s longstanding run as one of the sexiest women in Hollywood. True story: the 50-year-old might be sexier now than she was then and that’s saying something because she was sexy as all get out then.
Lea Thompson – Back to the Future
Thompson had the girl next door cute thing going for her for quite some time, but her peak crush-worthiness came as Lorraine Baines, future mother to Marty McFly, in the original Back to the Future. Yes, it was awkward that she was hitting on her son, but she was still extremely cute.
Kelly LeBrock – Weird Science
The ’80s were great because they made movies like Weird Science, where two nerds (Anthony Michael Hall was one of them) use a computer program to create the perfect woman. At one point, the argue over her breast size as a really bad Commodore 64 graphic expands and shrinks. Anyway, Kelly LeBrock was that perfect woman. Yes, yes she was.
Carrie Fisher – Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
Slave Girl Princess Leia. That gold bikini. Ross Geller wasn’t the only one that fantasized about saving Leia from Jabba the Hutt.
Elizabeth Shue – The Karate Kid
Cute, smart and supportive of Daniel-San’s desire to learn karate from the handyman in his complex so that he could beat Johnny Lawrence in the All-Valley Karate Tournament, Ali Mills was as close to perfect as you could get.
