Who is Lori Petty?
She was a star of the ‘90s movies “Point Break”, “Free Willy”, and “Tank Girl”, and today, Lori Petty, an almost-forgotten eclectic actress, was seen playing one of the lead roles in the fantasy drama series “Station Eleven”. Her return to television was marked with the great delight of the audience.
Lori has nearly 80 acting credits to her name, and besides the aforementioned roles, she’s been seen in numerous television series, including the world-wide popular “Orange Is the New Black”. Perhaps you didn’t know, but to be cast for this role, Lori herself called the casting director of the series and asked why she wasn’t a part of this project. Next thing, she was seen as conspiracy theorist Lolly Whitehill in 24 episodes of this crime drama.
To find out more interesting facts about this renowned actress- just keep on scrolling.
Early life, family, and education
Lori was born under the zodiac sign of Libra on 14 October 1963, which makes her age 59, as of 2022. Her hometown is Chattanooga, Tennessee USA, and there she was raised alongside her two siblings. Lori isn’t ashamed to speak of her childhood, and as she said about her ‘colorful background’ that her mother was a drug and alcohol addict and her father was abusive, thus Lori spent most of her upbringing in a trailer park with her mother and two younger sisters. Later, they moved to Iowa, and her mother’s new partner coerced her into prostitution – Lori remembers numerous pimps walking through their trailer house.
Lori dramatized this period of her life in a movie she co-wrote with David Alan Grier, entitled “The Poker House”, which brought Lori a nomination for Los Angeles Film Festival Filmmaker Award- Best Narrative Feature.
Speaking of Lori’s educational background, she attended North High School in Iowa, and upon matriculating in 1981, she didn’t go to college, but went to work as a graphic designer in Nebraska before she moved to New York City to pursue her acting career a couple of years later.
Roles in series
Lori made her acting debut in an episode of the series “All My Children” in 1985, followed with her role as Hooker in an episode of “The Equalizer” in the same year.
The late ‘80s saw Lori mostly guest-starring in numerous series; one of her notable was her portrayal of Cricket in the 1988 comedy series “The Thorns”, in which she starred opposite Kelly Bishop and Lisa Rieffel.
During 1989 and 1990, Lori was seen as Suzanne in the crime-drama series “Booker”, a spin-off from the hit sitcom “21 Jump Street”, starring Richard Grieco.
Lori’s next television role came in 1996, when she was cast to play Georgia Sanders in “Lush Life” opposite Karyn Parsons, a comedy about two roommates, one a quirky artist and the other a spoiled girl from a wealthy family. The show was canceled after seven episodes, but years later, the spin-off “Two Broke Girls” was a big hit.
https://www.facebook.com/SpookyEmpire/videos/350788327244676/
The late ‘90s saw Lori guest-starring in “Profiler” (1997), “The New Batman Adventures” (1998), and “Star Trek: Voyager” (1999), among others.
The early 2000s were hard for Lori, as she played small roles in various series, but she was cast just once per year. She made an appearance in popular series such as “ER” (2002), “NYPD Blue” (2003), which brought her a nomination for the Prism Award for Performance in a Drama Series Episode, and then she was seen in an episode of “Line of Fire” in 2004.
The following years were not much better for her career, and her next role came in 200, when she was seen in three episodes of “House”, followed by her role in “Prison Break” in 2009.
Five years later, she was cast to play Lolly Whitehill in “Orange Is the New Black”, which started as a guest role in the second season, and then became a recurring role in the third, fourth, and seventh seasons (2014-2019).
With the rest of the crew, Lori shares two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2016 and ’17).
In 2021, she landed herself the role of Susan/The Conductor in the TV mini-series “Station Eleven”, based on the novel of the same title by Emily St. John Mandel. It’s a story about people who survived the apocalypse caused by the devastating flu, and are now trying to rebuild the world by holding on to what was best in it.
The series had 33 award nominations, including seven for Primetime Emmys, and won six.
Roles in movies
Lori’s first movie roles were in the TV films “Bates Motel” and “The Line”, both in 1987. In 1990, she made her big-screen debut portraying Lila in the crime comedy “Cadillac Man”, starring Robin Williams, Pamela Reed and Tim Robins.
In the following year, Lori was cast to play Tyler in the thriller “Point Break”, also starring Patrick Swayze, Gary Busey and Keanu Reeves; Lori later spoke about her screen- kiss with Keanu Reeves, saying that she hooked her fingers in his belt trying to catch him off guard and so prolong their kiss.
In the 1992 sports comedy-drama “A League of Their Own”, Lori portrayed Kit Keller/Pitcher, starring opposite Tom Hanks, and Geena Davis; Madonna portrayed Mae Mordabito and Lori shared a make-up trailer with her. The movie followed a story about two sisters who joined the first female professional baseball league, and it had 13 award nominations, winning six.
The Glass Shield-Original Movie Poster of Charles Burnett's Police Drama on Corruption and Race with Michael Boatman, Ice Cube and Lori Petty https://t.co/YOkQylDSeJ #theglassshield #icecube #loripetty #charlesburnett #michaelboatman #originalmovieposter #independent pic.twitter.com/2bHCJO5hDE
— VintageCinemaArt (@RomanAvery6) November 23, 2020
Lori was next seen as Rae in the family drama “Free Willy”, which won the Young Artist Award for Outstanding Family Motion Picture – Drama in 1994. In the same year, Lori was seen in the Oscar-nominated (Best Music, Original Song) romantic drama “Poetic Justice”, starring Janet Jackson, Tupac Shakur and Regina King.
In the following year, she starred in “The Glass Shield” and “In the Army Now”, then in 1995 came her most notable( titl)e role as “Tank Girl” in the eponymous science-fiction action comedy. Although the movie had no nominations, it became a cult hit on home video, and her character is still one of the favorites of cosplay fans.
Lori followed with her lead role in the 1996 mystery thriller “Countdown” opposite Yuki Amami and Jason London. Two years later, she was seen as Robin Moon in “Relax… It’s Just Sex”, followed by her role as Candy in “The Arrangement” in 1999, portraying a stripper who was the only eyewitness who could implicate a cruel crime lord; her co-stars were Larry Reese, Tom Glass and Jim Gray.
In 2001, Lori starred in “MacArthur Park”, “Firetrap”, and “Route 666”., and continued in the early 2000s mostly starring in low-budget movies, such as “Prey for Rock & Roll” (2003). In 2006, Lori starred in the horror “Cryptid”, and then mostly had supporting roles.
In 2010, she was seen in “Chasing 3000”, and her next role came in the 2016 movie “Dead Awake”. Two years later, Lori was cast to play Francis in “Fear, Love, and Agoraphobia”, also starring Vince Lozano and Marcus LaVoi. Her performance brought her a Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Lori’s most recent role was her portrayal of Wanda Person in the 2020 horror “A Deadly Legend”, a female lead role opposite Judd Hirsch and Corbin Bernsen.
Love life and relationships
https://www.instagram.com/p/Clt4HCJv-U5/
Lori has been the subject of numerous rumors, the majority of which claimed that she’s lesbian, which could be attributed to her roles in several films with plots involving gay and lesbian relationships.
It is known that back in 1994 she was in a relationship with David Alan Grier, but when the two separated, they remained close friends.
One of her lovers was the late actor and dancer Gregory Hines, who died in 2003.
As of October 2022, it seems that Lori is single, she hasn’t been married and doesn’t have children.
What happened to her? What is she doing today?
Lori stated in one of her interviews that she isn’t sure what changed, but she believes casting directors wanted a ‘girl next door,’ which she was not. She added that they (casting directors) wanted someone like Rachel from “Friends”, or someone less androgynous, and she believes that her appearance was the main reason for her employment decline, claiming that she didn’t appear to be suitable for that Hollywood era.
Lori lives with her cat in her apartment in Venice Beach, California. You can join her army of 350,000 followers on Instagram to keep track of her work and life.
Her fans will be happy to hear that she will be back on television in the series “Obliterated” which is currently filming, and movie lovers will see her in the horror “You’re All Gonna Die”, which should be released in late 2022.
Net worth
During her nearly 40-year-long career, Lori had some ups and downs, however, thanks to her acting talent, she’s earned a decent amount of money. Her net worth has been estimated at over $3 million.
