Who is Rachel Ticotin?
Rachel Ticotin Strauss was born in The Bronx, New York City USA, on 1 November 1958 – her zodiac sign is Scorpio, and she holds American nationality. She’s an actress with more than 60 credits to her name, perhaps still known best for her portrayal of the lead character Melina, in the 1990 science fiction action adventure movie “Total Recall”. It was directed by Paul Verhoeven, also starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone, and follows a man who has been implanted with memories of himself vacationing on the planet Mars; the movie won eight awards, including an Oscar for Visual Effects, while it was nominated for 16 other awards.
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There have been rumors circulating the internet claiming that Rachel has retired from acting, and even that she has died, but she’s alive and well, and is still quite active in the film industry.
Early life and education
Rachel was raised in New York City alongside her three brothers David A. Ticotin, Daniel and Marcus, and their sister Nancy Ticotin, by their Russian-Jewish father Abe Ticotin who was a used-car salesman, and their Puerto Rican mother Iris Torres who was a teacher. Nancy is today also an actress, David is an assistant director, and Daniel, also known as Sahaj, is the frontman of the rock ‘n’ roll group Ra.
Rachel was interested in numerous activities while growing up, including acting, dancing and singing, while she also played a couple of sports, excelling in tennis; her parents enrolled her at Ballet Hispanico, at which she trained in ballet for a couple of years.
Rachel matriculated from a local high school in 1976, and then didn’t enroll at college, but chose to pursue a career in the film industry.
Roles in movies
Rachel made her debut film appearance in the 1978 drama “King of the Gypsies”, written and directed by Frank Pierson, and which starred Eric Roberts, Judd Hirsch and Susan Sarandon. It follows ‘the king’ of New York City gypsies, Zharko Stepanowicz, who has made his grandson his heir, which has made his son angry; the movie was nominated for three awards.
A couple of Rachel’s following roles were in the 1981 crime drama “Fort Apache – The Bronx”, the 1983 drama “For Love and Honor”, and the 1985 drama “Love, Mary”. What was perhaps her most notable performance in the ‘80s was her portrayal of the lead character Rachel in the 1987 comedy “Critical Condition”.
It was directed by Michael Apted, also starred Richard Pryor and Ruben Blades, and follows the con man Kevin Lennihan, who claims to be insane so avoid being sent to jail for jewel smuggling.
She appeared in more than 20 movies in the ‘90s, with some of the popular amongst these being the 1994 action crime drama “Natural Born Killers”, the 1994 romantic comedy drama “Don Juan DeMarco”, and the 1997 action crime thriller “Con Air”.
She played Dr. Martinez in the critically acclaimed 2003 romantic comedy drama “Something’s Gotta Give”, written and directed by Nancy Meyers, and which starred Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton and Keanu Reeves. It follows an elderly swinger who only dates younger women, but has now fallen in love with a successful woman who’s nearly the same age as him; the movie won eight of the 22 awards for which it was nominated, including an Oscar nomination.
Rachel appeared in only a couple of other movies in the 2000s, such as the 2004 action crime drama “Man on Fire”, the 2005 romantic comedy drama “The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants”, and the 2008 mystery horror “The Eye”.
She has since appeared in only three movies: the 2011 thriller drama “América”, the 2016 family drama “Secret Summer” and the 2020 romantic science fiction comedy “Superintelligence”.
Roles in TV series
Rachel made her debut TV series appearance with her portrayal of Corporal Grace Pavlik in the 1984 drama “For Love and Honor”, and gained recognition in 1988, when she starred as Teresa Storm in the crime thriller drama “Ohara”. It was created by Hal Sitowitz and Ronald M. Cohen, also starred Pat Morita and Robert Clohessy, and follows a Los Angeles Police Department officer who’s investigating crimes with his partner Lieutenant George Shaver; the series was nominated for two awards, including a Primetime Emmy.
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Rachel appeared in only a couple of series in the ’90s, including the crime drama “Crime & Punishment”, the crime fantasy comedy “Tales from the Crypt”, and the action thriller mini-series “Aftershock: Earthquake in New York”.
In 2002, she was cast to play Vangie Gonzalez in the family drama “American Family”, created by Gregory Nava, and which starred Kurt Caceres, Edward James Olmos and Patricia Velasquez. The series follows the Gonzalez family, aired from 2002 to 2004, and won two of the 23 awards for which it was nominated, including four Primetime Emmy nominations. Rachel appeared in the 2006 episode “Two for the Road” of the hit adventure fantasy drama “Lost”, and played Candela in the 2009 episode “All About My Mom” of the crime comedy drama “Weeds”.
She appeared in only a couple of series in the 2010s, while some of her most recent roles have been in the 2017 episode “The Return” of the mystery crime drama “Homeland”, three episodes of the romantic drama “Grey’s Anatomy” in 2018, and four episodes of the 2019 biographical mini-series “The Act”.
Other credits
Rachel has worked as a production assistant on three award-winning movies: the 1976 mystery thriller drama “Obsession”, the 1980 mystery crime drama “Dressed to Kill”, and the 1980 biographical sports drama “Raging Bull”.
She made a guest appearance in a 1997 episode of the talk-show “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”.
Rachel has been featured in a couple of documentary films, including the 1990 “The Making of ‘Total Recall’”, the 2004 “The Making of ‘Man on Fire’”, and the 2005 “Vengeance Is Mine: Reinventing ‘Man on Fire’”.
Awards and nominations
Rachel was nominated for two American Latino Media Arts (ALMA) Awards in 1998, for her performances in “Con Air” and “First Time Fellon”.
She was also nominated for a 1998 Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress – Action/Adventure, for “Con Air”, and for a 1991 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress, for her performance in “Total Recall”.
Love life and husband
Rachel has married twice. She exchanged vows with her first husband David Caruso in 1983, in a large ceremony attended by many of their friends and family members. David is a famous American actor and film producer, who’s perhaps still known best for having starred alongside Sylvester Stallone and Brian Dennehy in the 1982 action adventure thriller movie “First Blood”. Rachel gave birth to their daughter Greta on 1 June 1984, but she and David divorced in 1989.
She married her second husband Peter Strauss on 31 December 1998; Peter’s an American actor who has appeared in close to 100 movies and TV series, and has won two awards, including a 1979 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special, for his performance in the crime sports movie “The Jericho Mile”.
As of January 2022, Rachel’s married to her second husband Peter Strauss, and has a daughter with her first husband David Caruso.
Hobbies and other interests
Rachel was passionate about travelling during her 20s and 30s, and visited many US states, as well as a couple of European and Asian countries. She’s today living in Ojai, California, and is no longer a big fan of travelling.
Rachel was also physically highly active when she was younger, and had a couple of training sessions at the gym each week, while she also practiced yoga at home; she no longer goes to the gym, but occasionally does yoga, and meditates.
She’s a huge lover of animals and has had many pets, including dogs, cats and parrots; Rachel has apparently donated money to both animal shelters and various charity organizations, making her a philanthropist.
She has her own favorite actors and actresses, some of whom are the late Robin Williams, Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, while a couple of her favorite movies include “Patch Adams”, “Lost in Translation” and “The Groundhog Day”.
Age, height and net worth
Rachel’s age is 63. She has long brown hair and brown eyes, her height is 5ft 7ins (1.7m) and she weighs around 130lbs (60kgs).
As of January 2022, her net worth has been estimated at more than $4 million.
