Known from movies

Strange Science (1985)
as hilly

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
as Samantha

American Ninja (1985)
as Patricia Hickock

Beverly Hills, 90210 (1991-1998)
as Shelly



Who is Judie Aronson?

Born on June 7, 1964 in Los Angeles, California, USA, Judith M. Aronson is a businesswoman as well as a retired actress. She is best known for her roles in various television series and projects, with some of her most notable performances including the 1980s series ‘Pursuit of Happiness’, ‘Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter’ and ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’ .

The Wealth of Judie Aronson

As of mid-2020, Judie Aronson’s net worth is estimated to be over $800,000, largely earned through a successful career as an actress, operating for over three decades before retiring sometime in 2006.

She made a brief return in an independent short film in 2016, but did not plan to return to acting full-time. She has also acquired wealth through her business endeavors.

Early life and career beginnings

Judie grew up in Los Angeles, and like many kids living close to Hollywood, she considered an acting career when she was very young. She eventually began pursuing professional roles when she was in her late teens, leading her to appear in a few guest roles on television. Some of her first projects included “Simon & Simon” and “The Powers of Matthew Star”.

In 1984, she made her feature film debut in “Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter”, playing the role of Samantha.

The film is the fourth in the “Friday the 13th” film series, which follows the events of a third film where Jason Voorhees was supposedly killed. He comes back to life and goes on another killing spree at Crystal Lake. The film was intended to be the last of the series, but its success eventually led to another film the following year.

Become famous

Aronson’s work in “Friday the 13th” opened many more doors for her, and within a year she was cast in the film “Weird scienceas the character Hilly. The film starred Anthony Michael Hall and is based on the comic magazine of the same name published in the 1950s.

It tells the story of two nerds who try to create the perfect dream woman with the help of a computer, with some elements from the movie inspired by “Frankenstein”. The film received mixed reviews but was successful at the box office similar to her previous film.

She quickly signed up for another project in “American Ninja”, a martial arts film starring Michael Dudikoff, and was the beginning of the “American Ninja” franchise, and is considered a cult film. After that, she refocused her efforts on television and appeared as a guest in ‘Full House’, ‘Mr. Belvedere” and “Daddy’s”. In 1987 she got her first regular television role in ‘pursuit of happiness”, a sitcom that tells the story of a history professor who moves to a small college in Philadelphia.

The show ran for one season, but was eventually canceled due to low ratings.

Continue acting

With the end of “Pursuit of Happiness”, Judie sought out more roles and became a television regular with guest starring roles on “Charles in Charge”, “Growing Pains” and “Life Goes On”. She also appeared sporadically during the run of “Beverly Hills, 90210” as the character Shelly. The show is the original of many within the “Beverly Hills, 90210” franchise and tells the story of a group of friends who live in the upscale community of Beverly Hills and grow from high school into the adult world.

She also appeared in a part of the movie “After Midnight”, before “Cool Blue”, a romantic comedy movie starring Hank Azaria and Woody Harrelson in which she played a supporting role. During the latter part of her film career, she mainly did independent projects in film work, as seen in “The Sleeping Car” and “Desert Kickboxer”. Then she worked on “Lisa Picard is famousstarring Laura Kirk as the titular character; the film aired during the Cannes Film Festival and follows the life of a documentary filmmaker, as he follows the life of aspiring actress Lisa Picard.

Final projects, retirement and brief return

In her final years as an actress, Aronson did more television work, mostly taking on guest roles as seen in “Roc”, “High Tide”, and “Simon”. She took on significantly smaller projects and even went on hiatuses that lasted for years before returning to act in minor roles. Some of her latest television projects include “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and “Las Vegas”.

Her last major film project was “Kiss kiss bang bang”, starring Val Kilmer and Robert Downy, Jr. and based in part on the novel “Bodies Are Where You Find Them”.

The film was released during the Cannes Film Festival and eventually hit theaters to positive reviews. It was also a success at the box office, grossing around $15 million. She became inactive after this role, and although she made no announcements, she was believed to have retired, due to the lack of any significant or consistent projects that could help her sustain her lifestyle.

Meanwhile, she began a foray into the corporate world and started a curio shop in Los Angeles. She later followed a passion for fitness and started one Pilates studio in the area.

In 2016, she made a brief return to acting, working on the short film “The Secret of 40”, before quietly returning to obscurity.

Private life

Not much is known about Judie’s romantic endeavours. She has had relationships with Grant Show so in the mid 80’s Kyle Secor early 90s, George Stephanopoulos around the turn of the century, and Jon Lindstrom (2006); since then no news about associations. She is not a very public person and was rarely involved with the media even during her acting career. She also does not have accounts on major social media websites.

General information

First and last name	Judy Aaronson
Date of birth	June 7, 1964
Height	1.65m
Profession	Actor
Nationality	American

Performance

Movies	Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Weird Science, American Ninja, After Midnight, Cool Blue, The Sleeping Car, Desert Kickboxer, Hannibal, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Secret Of 40, Desert Hawk
TV shows	Teech, The Pursuit of Happiness (1987)

Links to social profiles

Facts

#	Fact
1	As of February 2009, she was the owner (and founder) of Rockit Body Pilates in Manhattan Beach, CA.
2	Her character’s death in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) was filmed on a cold December night. It was so cold in the middle of the lake that Judie began to cry. Ted White, the stuntman who played killer Jason Voorhees, got mad at director Joseph Zito for being so insensitive to her discomfort and threatened to quit if Judie didn’t get a break from being in the cold water. She developed hypothermia while filming that scene.

Pictures

Movies

Actress

Title	Year	Status	Character
The secret of 40	2016	Short	Mary
We fight to be free	2006	Short	Emily Chamberlayne
Kiss kiss bang bang	2005		Gift bag girl
Vegas	2004	TV serials	Cheryl Bullock
Law & Order: criminal intent	2001	TV serials	Valerie Kelmer
Hannibal	2001		News reporter
Center Street 100	2001	TV serials	Miss Seidenman
Deep core	2000		Lilly
Lisa Picard is famous	2000		Liz
Beverly Hills, 90210	1991-1998	TV serials	Shelly
JAG	1997	TV serials	Girl
High tide	1997	TV serials	Courtney Robbins
Silk stalking	1996	TV serials
Nightstand	1996	TV serials	maggie
Simon	1996	TV serials	Jackie
Rock	1993	TV serials	Nancy
Desert kickboxer	1992		Claudia Valentini
Life goes on	1991	TV serials	Phoebe
Midnight caller	1991	TV serials	Cassie Douglas
Tech	1991	TV serials	Gina
Cool blue	1990	Video	Kathy
The sleeping car	1990		Kim
Growing pains	1990	TV serials	Cindy
sister Kate	1989	TV serials
After midnight	1989		Jennifer (segment “A Night on the Town”)
Charles in charge	1989	TV serials	Luanne
The new leaves it to Beaver	1989	TV serials	Jennifer
Have a nice night	1988	Short	Bonnie
pursuit of happiness	1987-1988	TV serials	Sarah Dunkan
Full house	1987	TV serials	Raven
Mr. Belvedere	1987	TV serials	Linda
Fathers	1986	TV serials	Shana
sledgehammer!	1986	TV serials	Francine Flambo
American Ninja	1985		Patricia Hickock
Weird science	1985		Hilly
It will be better	1984	TV movie	Randy White
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter	1984		Samantha
Simon & Simon	1983	TV serials	Ronda / Young Girl #1
The powers of Matthew Star	1983	TV serials	Lisa Wellman

Miscellaneous

Title	Year	Status	Character
Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th	2013	Video documentary archive material

Yourself

Title	Year	Status	Character
Rumble in the Jungle: The Making of ‘American Ninja’	2016	Video documentary short	herself
Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th	2013	Video documentary	Herself – ‘Samantha’
Better	2011	TV serials	herself
Secrets of the Hollywood Body	2009	TV movie	herself
His name was Jason: 30 years Friday the 13th	2009	TV movie documentary	herself

Source: IMDb, Wikipedia