She had crimson hair, a wicked grin, and always a sly sense of humor, even eye-to-eye with high school and middle school kids. Priscilla Allen was an accomplished theater actress and a drama teacher at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts, an all-around cool and classy lady who taught a lot of us a few things about the theater, about plays and playwrights, and about good work. I took classes with her when I was little, in the seventh and eighth grade.
But to the world, she is known not by name but as the "Two Weeks Lady" in "Total Recall." Word is going around SCPA graduates that Ms. Allen passed away recently. She will be missed. Here is a post at Best Week Ever charting one blogger's discovery of the woman behind the exploding head, a theater-related biography, and a nice blog memorial.
And to refresh your memory, here is that classic scene of pop cinema in which Ms. Allen's creepy character attempts to pass through customs on Phillip K. Dick's imagined Mars and, oops, turns out she's Arnold Schwarzenegger -- the current governor of California:
* Services for Priscilla Allen I'm reading are to be held on Thursday, August 21 at the San Diego Rep.