Sharon Stone
During her time at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Sharon Stone achieved the title of Miss Crawford County, Pennsylvania. In 1976, she participated as a candidate for Miss Pennsylvania. A judge in the pageant advised her to abandon college and relocate to New York City to pursue a career in fashion modeling. Acting upon this suggestion, Stone left Meadville and resided with her aunt in New Jersey. By 1977, she had secured a contract with the Ford Modeling Agency in New York City. Subsequently, she ventured to Europe, spending a year in Milan followed by another in Paris. It was during her stay in Europe that she decided to leave modeling behind and pursue acting.
Deadly Blessings
Recounting her experience, she stated, “So I packed my bags, moved back to New York, and stood in line to be an extra in a Woody Allen movie.” At the age of 20, Stone obtained a small role in Allen’s dramedy Stardust Memories (1980), and a year later, she had a speaking part in the horror film Deadly Blessing (1981).
Renowned French director Claude Lelouch cast Stone in the musical epic Les Uns et les Autres (1982), alongside James Caan. However, her appearance lasted merely two minutes and she did not receive credit in the film.
Magnum p.i.
She managed to secure guest spots on various television series such as Silver Spoons (1982), Bay City Blues (1983), Remington Steele (1983), Magnum, P.I. (1984), and T.J. Hooker (1985). In the drama Irreconcilable Differences (1984), she portrayed a starlet who disrupts the marriage of a successful director and his screenwriter wife, starring alongside Ryan O’Neal, Shelley Long, and a young Drew Barrymore.
Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold
Stone also starred as a resourceful woman teaming up with a fortune hunter, played by Richard Chamberlain, in the action-centered films King Solomon’s Mines (1985) and Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1986), which offered a lighthearted, comedic take on the Indiana Jones film series. However, both films received negative reviews from critics and audiences. Walter Goodman of The New York Times, reviewing King Solomon’s Mines, praised Stone’s portrayal of a spunky, sexy, and smart-talking heroine with an effective right hook but criticized the film’s storyline, stating that it was overshadowed by its special effects. Stone received her first Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Actress for her performance in Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold.
Stone landed the role of Janice Henry in the ABC miniseries War and Remembrance (1987), a follow-up to the 1983 miniseries The Winds of War, based on the novel of the same name by Herman Wouk. Throughout the latter part of the 1980s, she appeared as a reporter in the comedy Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987), an alluring yet enigmatic woman with ulterior motives in the thriller Cold Steel (1987), the wife of a former CIA agent in the crime film Above the Law (1988), and the ill-fated wife of a prosperous businessman in the action film Action Jackson (1988).
Conclusion
The 1980s served as a transformative decade for Sharon Stone, a time when she transitioned from a promising model to a versatile and talented actress. Her determination, passion, and dedication during this period laid the foundation for her stellar career in the decades to come, making her an enduring icon of the silver screen.
