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Rachel Talalay

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Rachel Talalay
Talalay in 2016
Born (1958-07-16) July 16, 1958 (age 66)
Alma materYale University
Occupations
  • Filmmaker
  • producer
  • professor
Years active1981–present
Spouse
Rupert Harvey
(m. 1990)
Children2
ParentPaul Talalay (father)

Rachel Talalay (born July 16, 1958) is an American filmmaker and producer best known for directing films such as Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), Ghost in the Machine (1993), and Tank Girl (1995). Her television credits include episodes of Ally McBeal, Supernatural, Doctor Who, Sherlock, Riverdale, Doom Patrol, Superman & Lois and Quantum Leap.

Talalay is also a professor at the University of British Columbia.[1]

Early life and education

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Talalay was born in Chicago. Her father Paul Talalay was a pharmacologist, born in Berlin to a Belarusian Jewish family, and her mother Pamela is an English biochemist. She has two sisters and a brother.[2] She was raised mostly in Baltimore, with two years of her childhood in Britain.[1] Talalay attended Yale University, where she majored in mathematics, graduating in 1980.[3][4] She also ran the Yale Film Society.[3]

Career

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Talalay worked in a number of different capacities in filmmaking before making her directorial debut with the film Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991).[5] Talalay also worked on the first four A Nightmare on Elm Street films.[3] Her work with the earlier Nightmare films utilized her computer skills and finding ways to create better special effects while still keeping costs low.[3] Despite her familiarity with the Freddy movies, when she directed Freddy's Dead, she was given internal memos telling her not to be "too girly" or "too sensitive."[6]

Talalay also directed Tank Girl in 1995, and was looking into re-optioning the rights to make a new film in 2008.[7] As a film producer, Talalay worked with director John Waters on the films Hairspray (1988) and Cry-Baby (1990). She was also a production assistant on Waters' 1981 film Polyester.[8]

Talalay states that ever since Doctor Who was revived in 2005, she wanted to work on the show.[9] Talalay directed all three of Peter Capaldi's series finales: series 8's "Dark Water" and "Death in Heaven",[10] series 9's "Heaven Sent" and "Hell Bent"—the former considered by many to be one of the best episodes in the show's history[11]—and series 10's "World Enough and Time" and "The Doctor Falls",[12] as well as the Doctor Who 2017 Christmas special, "Twice Upon a Time".[13] She returned to Doctor Who in 2023 for "The Star Beast" with David Tennant & Catherine Tate returning as the Fourteenth Doctor and Donna Noble as part of the show's 60th anniversary. In 2019, she directed a film adaption of Joe Ballarini's A Babysitter's Guide to Monster Hunting for Netflix.[14]

Personal life

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Talalay met British film producer Rupert Harvey while working on Android in 1982. They began a relationship soon after, and were married in 1990, with John Waters officiating the wedding.[4][15] Talalay and Harvey have a daughter named Lucy.[16]

Filmography

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Films

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Director

Producer

Television

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TV movies

TV series

Year Title Episodes
1997 Band of Gold
  • "Tainted Love (Part 1)"
  • "Tainted Love (Part 2)"
1998 To Have & to Hold
  • "Turkey Day Blues"
  • "Who's Sorry Next?"
Touching Evil (U.K. Series)
  • "War Relief: Part 1"
  • "War Relief: Part 2"
1999–2002 Ally McBeal
  • "Saving Santa"
  • "Prime Suspect"
  • "Two's a Crowd"
  • "Blowin' in the Wind"
2000 Boston Public
  • "Chapter Five"
Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)
  • "Mental Apparition Disorder"
  • "A Blast From the Past"
2001 That's Life
  • "Miracle at the Cucina"
State of Grace
  • "Eve of Discussion"
Wolf Lake
  • "Tastes Like Chicken"
Dice
  • "Episode #1.1"
  • "Episode #1.2"
  • "Episode #1.3"
  • "Episode #1.4"
  • "Episode #1.5"
  • "Episode #1.6"
2002 Without a Trace
  • "He Saw, She Saw"
Crossing Jordan
  • "Four Fathers"
2002–2007 The Dead Zone
  • "Shaman"
  • "Symmetry"
  • "Ego"
2002–2003 The Division
  • "A Priori"
  • "Castaways"
2003 Cold Case
  • "Sherry Darlin"
2004 Touching Evil (U.S. Series)
  • "Y Me"
Life as We Know It
  • "Natural Disasters"
Unfabulous
  • "The Perfect Couple"
2005 Sex, Love & Secrets
  • "Protection" (Unaired)
Terminal City
  • "Episode #1.1"
  • "Episode #1.2"
  • "Episode #1.7"
  • "Episode #1.8"
2006 Whistler
  • "In The Air"
  • "After The Fall"
  • "Scratching The Surface"
  • "Meltdown"
2007 Supernatural
  • "Hunted"
Greek
  • "Separation Anxiety"
Kyle XY
  • "Hands on a Hybrid"
  • "Leap of Faith"
2008 Flash Gordon
  • "Blame"
2009 Da Kink in My Hair
  • "Of Papers and Patois"
  • "Playing Social"
  • "Honesty the Best Policy?"
Durham County
  • "Boys Do Things"
  • "Consumed"
2010 Cra$h & Burn
  • "Lawyers, Guns & Money"
  • "Bond Blame Baptize"
Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures
  • "How to Get Ahead in Medical School"
  • "Family Practice"
  • "Unhappy Endings"
Haven
  • "Harmony"
  • "Surviving the Fall"
2011 Endgame
  • "Gorillas in Our Midst"
Hiccups
  • "Sexual Healing"
2012 Continuum
  • "Time's Up"
XIII: The Series
  • "Breakout"
  • "Mousetrap"
2013 Bomb Girls
  • "Party Line"
  • "Fifth Column"
Played
  • "Cars"
  • "Revenge"
2014 Reign
  • "Sacrifice"
2014–2017,
2022–2023
Doctor Who
2015 South of Hell
  • "Judge and Fury"
  • "White Noise"
2016–2023 The Flash
  • "Fast Lane"
  • "The Present"
  • "Fury Rogue"
  • "Cause and XS"
  • "Masquerade"
  • "The Mask of the Red Death, Part 2"
2016–2021 Legends of Tomorrow
  • "Last Refuge"
  • "Meat the Legends"
2016–2019 Supergirl
  • "Welcome to Earth"
  • "Suspicious Minds"
2017 Sherlock
2018–2021 Riverdale
  • "Chapter Twenty-Five: The Wicked and the Divine"
  • "Chapter Forty-One: Manhunter"
  • "Chapter Fifty-Seven: Survive the Night"
  • "Chapter Eighty-Four: Lock & Key"
2018 Iron Fist
  • "The City's Not for Burning"
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
  • "Chapter Six: An Exorcism in Greendale"
2019 Doom Patrol
  • "Puppet Patrol"
American Gods
  • "Donar the Great"[17]
2021 Superman & Lois
  • "The Best of Smallville"
2022 Quantum Leap
  • "A Decent Proposal"

References

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  1. ^ a b Bailey, Ian (8 August 2014). "Q&A: UBC professor went from Doctor Who fan to director of this season's finale". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  2. ^ "Dr. Paul Talalay, Johns Hopkins molecular pharmacologist who made broccoli famous as a cancer fighter, dies". The Baltimore Sun. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d Wigler, Stephen (27 September 1991). "'Freddy's Dead' Gives Rise to Career". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016 – via HighBeam Research.
  4. ^ a b Wigler, Stephen (September 8, 1991). "A Friend of Freddy Krueger: Rachel Talalay has worked on five 'Elm Street' films". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  5. ^ "A Nightmare On Elm Street : Interviews – Rachel Talalay". Nightmareonelmstreetfilms.com. 2005-03-22. Retrieved 2014-12-27.
  6. ^ Rohter, Larry (17 March 1991). "Are Women Directors an Endangered Species?". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  7. ^ Anderson, Martin (August 5, 2008). "Rachel Talalay for Tank Girl reboot". Den of Geek!. Archived from the original on May 5, 2018.
  8. ^ Rachel Talalay Biography, Film Reference
  9. ^ Collis, Clark (3 November 2014). "Doctor Who Director Rachel Talalay Talks 'Dark Water'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  10. ^ "Film Prof Directs Doctor Who Season Finale". The University of British Columbia. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  11. ^ Reynolds, Andrew (20 December 2015). "Directing Doctor Who: Rachel Talalay's Notes on Heaven Sent". Katerborous. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  12. ^ "Original Mondasian Cybermen return to Doctor Who!". BBC. 6 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  13. ^ "The 2017 Doctor Who Christmas special will be called..." Radio Times. 23 July 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  14. ^ Fleming, Joe Jr. (April 15, 2019). "Netflix Turning A Babysitter's Guide To Monsters Into Family Film; Rachel Talalay To Direct". Deadline. Archived from the original on April 15, 2019. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  15. ^ Collis, Clark (July 19, 2016). "Rachel Talalay talks going from Tank Girl to Sherlock". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  16. ^ "https://twitter.com/rtalalay/status/1267260469682683905". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-07-07. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  17. ^ "Home – American Gods S2 Presskit". Starz. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
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