Christine Elise McCarthy
Quick Facts
Biography
Christine Elise McCarthy (born February 12, 1965) is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her roles as Emily Valentine in Beverly Hills, 90210 and Kyle in the Child's Play franchise, first appearing in Child's Play 2 (1990).
Personal life
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of artists, she graduated from the Boston Latin School in 1983. She and fellow 90210 actor Jason Priestley lived together from 1992-95.
Career
Film career
Elise is revisiting her role as Emily Valentine from Beverly Hills, 90210 in the reboot, BH90210 in 2019 playing a "heightened version" of herself on the series.
Very early in her career, she had a recurring role in the final season of China Beach which she often cites as her best professional experience. She played the role of Kyle in the 1990 film Child's Play 2. In 1993, she played Jenn Platt in the horror film Body Snatchers. She had a recurring role as Emily Valentine on Beverly Hills, 90210 and also appeared on the second season of ER for 17 episodes as Harper Tracy.
Following her stint on ER, Elise appeared on the short-lived Fox show L.A. Firefighters. She appeared in the TV movie Vanishing Point with Viggo Mortensen, who had requested that she play the role. They had met on another project, Boiling Point, though her role was largely written out. She had a recurring role as the daughter of Police Chief Bill Gillespie on In the Heat of the Night and also appeared in the Charmed episode Desperate Housewitches. She was featured in the punk rock documentaries American Hardcore and All Ages: The Boston Hardcore Film.
McCarthy made her directorial debut with an award-winning short film she also wrote, produced, and starred in: Bathing and the Single Girl. Since December 2010, Bathing and the Single Girl has been screened at more than 100 festivals and has won 20 awards. Dystel & Goderich Literary Management represents her full-length novel of the same name, Bathing and the Single Girl, released in January 2014.
McCarthy has also been a programmer of Michigan's Waterfront Film Festival since it was founded in 1999. She has also been involved in multiple capacities (juror, panelist, programmer, and moderator) with Sidewalk FF, Indie Memphis FF, Oxford FF, RxSM FF, Victoria Texas Independent FF, Kansas City Jubilee FF, Lady Filmmakers FF, and Portland Oregon Women's FF.
McCarthy has also worked as a story producer since 2014, producing such reality shows as Hellevator (with the Soska Twins), Best Bars in America, Cold Justice, Tamar & Vince, and Rich in Faith.
On February 11, 2015, McCarthy appeared on Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor Podcast.
Career outside film industry
Under her birth name (Christine Elise McCarthy), she has worked as a professional photographer, once (February 2008) showing her work at the 2nd Cup Cafe in Boston. In 2008, her photographs were displayed at the Paris restaurant Pink Flamingo. In April 2009, she participated in the Cambridge, Massachusetts, exhibit called "Burlesque As Art".
Currently, Elise maintains a food porn blog called Delightful-Delicious-Delovely at "Delightful Delicious Delovely" and a vegan cooking show on YouTube - www.videovegan.com
Selected filmography
Film
- Child's Play 2 (1990) - Kyle
- Body Snatchers (1993) - Jenn Platt
- Curse of Chucky (2013) - Kyle (photograph during post-credits scene)
- Cult of Chucky (2017) - Kyle (cameo post-credits; Unrated Version Only)
Television
- Baywatch (1989) - Amy Laederach / Catherine Baker (1 episode)
- Head of the Class (1989–90) - Rhonda Gielgud (3 episodes)
- China Beach (1990–91) - Karen Lanier (4 episodes)
- Northern Exposure (1991) - Cindy Rincon (1 episode)
- Matlock (1991) - Jill Lambert (1 episode)
- In the Heat of the Night (1991–93) - Lana Farren (5 episodes)
- Beverly Hills, 90210 (1991–94) - Emily Valentine (12 episodes)
- ER (1995–96) - Harper Tracy (15 episodes)
- Burke's Law (1995) - Leona Barnett (1 episode)
- L.A. Firefighters (1996–97) - Firefighter Erin Coffey (13 episodes)
- Mother Knows Best (1997) - Laurel Cooper (Lifetime, TV Movie)
- JAG (2002) - Cmdr. Ferraro
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2005) - Carol Rogers (Credited as Christine Elise McCarthy)
- Charmed (2005) - Miss Diane (Credited as Christine Elise McCarthy)
- Cold Case (2006) - Sally
- Saving Grace (2009) - Lilly Carter (Credited as Christine Elise McCarthy)
- Castle (2012) - Suzanne Rizzo (Credited as Christine Elise McCarthy)
- Hit the Floor (2016) - Ob / Gyn
- Get Shorty (2017) - Lydia, Episode "The Pitch"
- BH90210 (2019) - Herself / Emily Valentine
