Wish Upon started its theatrical run this weekend and I thought it would be a good idea to dedicate this edition of Where Are They Now? to the actress who led the ultimate dark desire movie – Wishmaster. Tammy Lauren was born in November 1968 in San Diego, the daughter of talent scout Suzanne Jarrott and stepdaughter of director Charles Jarrott. Fame and Hollywood was always going to be in her future, and she booked her first role at the age of 10 in an episode of “Fantasy Island.” She certified herself as a budding child actor by recurring in “Who’s Watching the Kids” and “Out of the Blue” between 1978 and 1979 with later roles of this nature being found in “The Best of Times” in 1985 and “Morningstar/Eveningstar” in 1986.
Tammy Lauren established herself as a rising starlet when appeared in a number of horror and science fiction movies in her late teenage years. She can be seen co-starring in sequel The Stepford Children (1987) as Mary Harding, co-starring in Emmy Award Winning television movie I Saw What You Did (1988) opposite Shawnee Smith as Lisa Harris and co-starring in The People Across the Lake (1988) opposite Valerie Harper as Lisa Yoman. Tammy’s next two features went to cinemas, and while Radioland Murders (1994) was a box office bomb, Wishmaster was a huge success. Tammy, of course, plays the lead role as Alexandra Amberson in Wishmaster (1997), which opened at #3 at the box office and was so big that it kickstarted its own franchise.
With this phase of her career out of the way, Ms. Lauren returned to television with recurring roles in “Martial Law” in 1998, “Home Improvement” in 1999 and “The Drew Carey Show” and “Wanda at Large” in 2003.
So, where is Tammy Lauren now?
She’s still acting, though it’s a lot less frequently! After her heyday, she saw guest spots in episodes of “Crossing Jordan,” “The Game” and “Two and a Half Men” before recurring as Maggie Sullivan in “The Young and the Restless” from 2006 to 2008. Her last role to date was another guest spot in a 2014 episode of “Criminal Minds.”
