Louise Robey

Louise Anne Beatrice Fiona Robey (born 14 March 1960), styled Louise, Countess of Burford, during her marriage to the Earl of Burford, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, former model, and actress. During much of her career, she used only her last name Robey as a stage name. She is best known for her role as Micki Foster in the television series Friday the 13th: The Series (1987–1990).

Louise Robey
Born
Louise Anne Beatrice Fiona Robey

(1960-03-14) 14 March 1960
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
NationalityBritish/French Canadian
Other namesLouise Ann Robey
Robey
Lady Burford
Louise Burford
Louise, Countess of Burford
EducationSt Leonards School
OccupationSinger-songwriter, actress, children's book writer/illustrator,[1] model
Years active1979–present
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1994; div. 2001)​

​
​
(m. 2008; died 2010)​

Early life and education

Robey was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the daughter of a pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force and a London stage actress.[2]

Robey was raised and educated throughout Canada, France, Italy, and West Germany,[2] learning to speak four languages.[3] She attended St Leonards School in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland and took college preparatory courses for Oxford and Cambridge.[2][4] She is a graduate of Elmwood School in Ottawa.[3]

Career

Modelling and singing

After high school, Robey travelled to Aix-en-Provence. French photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue spotted her sunbathing at a hotel pool, took her photograph, and invited her to become a model.[5][2][6] Lartigue photographed Robey for Paris Match and Vogue Paris. Robey moved to Paris, where she swiftly attained success as a fashion model.[5] She also began a music career, busking in the streets and fronting the musical group Louise and the Creeps.[4] In the early 1980s, Robey moved to New York City, where she worked as a catwalk model earning $5,000 a day[7] and appeared in advertising campaigns for Maybelline, Jordache, Revlon, and Clairol.[8]

Although Louise and the Creeps were signed to a record deal, they broke up in New York before recording an album. In 1984, Robey landed a solo record deal with Silver Blue Records and recorded a self-titled album (she decided to simply use her last name as her professional name as she felt "it had a nice ring"). Six singles from the album were released. One single, a cover of the song "One Night in Bangkok" from the musical Chess, became a hit.[5] Robey's version of the song spent three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1985, peaking at No. 77.[9] It fared much better on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, peaking at No. 5.[10]

Acting and current work

While working as a musician, Robey continued to model and also became involved in improvisational comedy. She also appeared in stage roles in dinner theater. In 1986, Robey had small roles in the films The Money Pit and Raw Deal. The following year, she beat out 300 other actresses for the role of Michelle "Micki" Foster, niece of antiques dealer Lewis Vendredi, on the syndicated horror series Friday the 13th: The Series, which Frank Mancuso Jr. produced. Robey's character, Micki Foster, was a young woman who had inherited an antique shop from Lewis Vendredi (R. G. Armstrong), her estranged uncle. When the antiques in the shop proved to have been cursed by the devil, Micki, Ryan Dallion (John D. LeMay), her cousin by marriage, and family friend Jack Marshak (Chris Wiggins) begin to hunt down and recover the antiques before they could kill, or cause the damnations of the souls of, anyone else. The show, which was filmed in Toronto,[2] was a hit with audiences and became one of the top three syndicated dramas airing at the time.[6] The sophisticated glamour and feisty charm Robey imparted to the character earned the show a cult following.[11] She later recalled convincing the producers to give Micki her fashion-forward and striking look.[11]

In December 2013, Robey released a new single, "Take It to the Top," a collaboration with recording artist Lovari. The single debuted at No. 87 on the iTunes U.S. Dance Chart.

Personal life

In 1993, Robey began dating Charles Beauclerk, Earl of Burford. The two met after Lord Burford gave a lecture about one of his relatives, The 17th Earl of Oxford, who is one of several authors named in the Shakespeare authorship question. The couple married on 29 December 1994 at St. Winifreds Church in Manaton. At the time of the marriage, Robey was pregnant with the couple's child. Their son James, Lord Vere of Hanworth, was born in Boston in 1995. The couple lived in Ipswich and Hadleigh, Suffolk, before divorcing in 2001.[7] She later married Stan Shaffer, a fashion and art photographer who died in 2010.[12]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1986 The Money Pit Female Vocalist Credited as Robey
1986 Raw Deal Lamanski's Girl Credited as Robey
1987–1990 Friday the 13th: The Series Micki Foster 70 episodes
Credited as Robey
1992 Play Nice Jill Crane / Rapunzel Credited as Robey (last film role to date)


Discography

Albums
  • Robey (1985, Silver Blue Records)
  • Music Anthology... Part 1: 1979-2009 (2011, TuneCore Records)

Singles
Year Title US Dance
1984 One Night in Bangkok 77 5
1985 Moth to a Flame – –
1985 Killer Instinct – 34
1986 I Surrender – 47
1987 Tighter, Tighter – –
1988 Flight of the Phoenix (with Cerrone) – –
2009 Pure Love/Baby Insane (with Lima Djari) – –
2011 Like a Woman Scorned – –
2013 Take it to the Top (with Lovari) – –

Soundtracks

References
  1. Wax, Alyse (2016). Curious Goods: Behind the Scenes of Friday the 13th: The Series. BearManor Media. p. 165.
  2. Buck, Jerry (17 June 1988). "'Friday the 13th' was good luck for Robey". Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. p. 11. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  3. Samara 1978. Elmwood School. 1978. p. 16.
  4. "Louise Robey « Artists « Revenge of the 80s Radio". 28 February 2009. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  5. Girdner, Bill (1 July 1988). "Strange TV Series Mirrors Star's Life: Robey, 26, plays lead in Friday the 13th". The Globe and Mail. p. C1.
  6. "Robey: Bewitching on and off-camera". Observer-Reporter. Washington, Pennsylvania. 15 January 1989. p. 92. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  7. Sayid, Ruki (2001). "M Profile: Lady Burford – The rock chick and the Earl; She was the Bohemian musician and actress who married one of England's most controversial aristocrats. But when these wildly different worlds collided, the fallout tore her life apart". thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  8. "'Friday the 13th' star has a background in modelling, music". Poughkeepsie Journal. 31 July 1988. p. 8F.
  9. Whitburn, Joel (1991). The Billboard Hot 100 Charts: The Eighties (1st ed.). Menomonee, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 9 March 1985. ISBN 0-89820-079-2.
  10. "Artist Chart History - Robey". allmusic.com. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  11. Castro, Hector; Reporter, P.-I. (10 February 2009). "Campy '80s show 'Friday the 13th' has a devoted cult of fans". seattlepi.com. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  12. "World-Renowned Photographer Stan Shaffer Passes". Revenge of the 80s Radio. 11 June 2010. Retrieved 1 May 2019.

Further reading
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