Terri Messina(1945-2007)
- Actress
- Editorial Department
Terri Jean Messina was a lovely and captivating brunette actress who
popped up in a few movies and several TV shows during her regrettably
brief acting career. Terri was born on December 17, 1945 in Northridge, Los Angeles, California. She first began acting in
episodic television in 1967. Messina gave an especially fine and
engaging performance as Maria, a naive and impressionable adolescent
girl who foolishly idolizes hooker Jayne Mansfield in the offbeat
Single Room Furnished (1966). Messina was likewise excellent and memorable
as luscious teenage tramp Bunch in the gruesome horror shocker Blood and Lace (1971). Among the TV shows Terri made guest appearances on are Batman (1966), "Gidget," I Dream of Jeannie (1965), "The Monkees," Ironside (1967),
Mannix (1967), Love, American Style (1969), and Room 222 (1969), Moreover, she served
as an assistant editor on the 1976 John Cassavetes picture The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976). Messina was the longtime lover of
singer/songwriter Gene Clark of the Byrds fame; the couple collaborated
on the song "Feelin' Higher" (this particular tune was recorded by the
band McGuinn, Clark & Hillman in 1979). She spent the last sixteen
years of her life taking care of her parents. Terri Messina died at age
61 on August 21, 2007.
