Ashley Laurence is an American film and television actress, noted for her appearances in horror films, particularly the “Hellraiser” series.
She grew up in the cultural excitement of Southern California. Encouraged to explore every artistic avenue available to her, she soon found her love for acting was equaled by her passion for painting. Her acting career was kicked into high gear at a very young age, when she was cast as the strong-willed heroine of Clive Barker’s quintessential horror classic, “Hellraiser”. The award winning actress subsequently appeared in a wide variety of roles for film and TV, including the highly acclaimed Red (2008), Lightning Bug (2004), ER (1994) and national advertising campaigns for GEICO Insurance, Coors Lite beer AT&T.
She first appeared as Kirsty Cotton in Hellraiser (1987), then reprized her role in the sequel Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988) and had a cameo appearance in Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992). The only other entry in the series to feature Laurence is _Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002)_. Laurence has also starred in Lurking Fear (1994) (an adaptation of the H.P. Lovecraft story) and Savate (1995). She was featured in E! True Hollywood Story: Scream Queens (2004).
In 2004 she took a role in “Lightning Bug”, in which she played the mother of a teenage boy who wants to become a special makeup effects artist (a fictionalized version of director Robert Hall’s own life). In a homage to her role in the “Hellraiser” films, she is seen picking up a copy of Fangoria magazine with Pinhead on the cover.
Though most of her work has been in film, during the course of her career she has appeared in episodes of such TV series as Suddenly Susan (1996), “ER” and Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990), and has been featured in national TV commercials for GEICO Insurance as well as having been the sexy Coors Light “Beerman” in one of the company’s national ad campaigns. She was also featured in the Hallmark Channel television movies Terror on the Mountain (2002) and Black Gold (2003). In 2008 she appeared in “Red”, based on the novel by Jack Ketchum. She also appeared in Slipknot’s short film for their song “Snuff”, which was released in December 2009.
