Patricia Charbonneau


Patricia Charbonneau is an American actress, perhaps best known for playing the part of Cay Rivvers in Desert Hearts, her first film role.

Early life

Patricia Charbonneau was born in Valley Stream, New York on Long Island, the youngest of 10 children. Her father, a retired businessman, is French; her mother is Austrian. She graduated in 1977 from Valley Stream Central High School, which she attended with fellow actors Steve Buscemi and Steve Hytner, as well as writer Ed Renehan. She later attended Boston University as a theater major, and left after a month to take a position with the Lexington Conservatory Theatre company in the Catskills. The story of the Conservatory Theater is chronicled in the documentary The Loss of Nameless Things.

Early work

In addition to work with the Lexington Conservatory Theatre, Charbonneau worked on the New York stage in a production of Revengers...A Tragedea, at Playwrights Horizons. She then became a member of the Actors Theatre of Louisville, where she originated the role of Lea in My Sister in this House, a part that she also played Off-Broadway.

''Desert Hearts''

In 1985, Charbonneau made her film debut in Donna Deitch's film Desert Hearts at a time when it was still considered a risk to portray a lesbian in a romantic drama - complete with a lengthy love scene. Charbonneau told The Globe and Mail, "Kissing Helen wasn't the hard part, really. The hard part was walking out on the set naked and just standing there." Two days before shooting began, Charbonneau found out that she was pregnant with her first child, whom she once called her "Desert Hearts baby."
For her performance in Desert Hearts, Charbonneau was nominated for a 1987 Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead.

Other notable work

In the following year she appeared in Michael Mann's Manhunter and then played Anna, the lead, in Call Me, which also featured fellow Valley Streamer Buscemi. The same year, she was featured in the crime drama/action movie Shakedown. Her television work began with a 1986 NBC pilot C.A.T. Squad and continued with dozens of appearances, including HBO's Tales from the Crypt, Crime Story, The Equalizer, Wiseguy, Murder She Wrote, Matlock, New York Undercover, and . In the 1990 film RoboCop 2, she played the role of Linda Garcia. Despite the character's prominence in the movie's plot, her name is never spoken, and the role was not listed in the credits; observant fans were able to determine the character's name by noticing that she wore a name tag. In 1995, she starred in Mission Critical, a Legend Entertainment sci-fi adventure game. She played one of James Garner's daughters in the 1999 CBS made-for-TV film One Special Night, which featured Julie Andrews.
In March 2007, Charbonneau joined the faculty of the Hudson Valley Academy of Performing Arts in West Taghkanic, New York where she teaches an acting workshop for children and teens.

Personal life

Charbonneau met musician Vincent Caggiano in 1978, and four years later they wed. Later they had a daughter.

Filmography

Movies

YearTitleRoleNotes
1983MysteryDisc: Many Roads to MurderTracey LoweVideo
1985Desert HeartsCay Rivvers
1986ManhunterMrs. Sherman
1988ShakedownSusan Cantrell
1988Call MeAnna
1990Brain DeadDana Martin
1990RoboCop 2Robocop Technician Linda GarciaUncredited
1991K2Jacki
1996Portraits of a KillerCarolyn Price
1998Kiss the SkyFranny
1999The ArrangementMarion Markel
1999She's All ThatLois Siler
1999California MythBarbara
2008100 FeetFrances

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1986C.A.T. SquadNikki BlakeTV Movie
1986 - 87Crime StoryInger Thorson7 Episodes
1987The EqualizerSally Stevens1 Episode, High Performance
1987'Linda Shannon1 Episode, Mary Hamilton
1988Disaster at Silo 7Kathy FitzgeraldTV Movie
1988 - 89WiseguyCarole Sternberg5 Episodes
1989UnsubLucille1 Episode, Silent Stalker
1989MatlockMadeline 'Maddy' Medford1 Episode, The Con Man
1989Desperado: Badlands JusticeEmily HarrisTV Movie
1990BookerClara1 Episode, Who Framed Roger Thornton?
1990Midnight CallerDakota Roberts1 Episode, Three for the Money
1991Murder, She WroteDiana Sterling1 Episode, From the Horse's Mouth
1991Father Dowling MysteriesLaurie Kidd1 Episode, The Malibu Mystery
1991The OwlDanny SanterreTV Movie
1991CaptiveKarenTV Movie
1992The CommishCatherine Belzer1 Episode, Sex, Love and Kerosene
1992Tales from the CryptEllen Renfield1 Episode, Strung Along
1993RenegadeJanet1 Episode, Vanished
1993Walker, Texas RangerRobin Henley1 Episode, Storm Warning
1994ViperElla Keats1 Episode, Wheels of Fire
1995ExtremeSheriff Lynn Roberts7 Episodes
1995seaQuest DSVElaine Morse2 Episodes
1996'Camilla1 Episode, Bad Moon Rising
1997ProfilerBarbara Chapin1 Episode, Shattered Silence
1997New York UndercoverJennifer Lewis1 Episode, School's Out
1997Diagnosis MurderFed. Marshal Monica Shattuck1 Episode, Deadly Games
1998'Woman Driving1 Episode, Bright Lights
1999One Special NightLoriTV Movie
2000Strange World1 Episode, Age of Reason
2001'Sydney Markham1 Episode, The Extra Man
2002Law & OrderJanet Naiman1 Episode, Oxymoron
2008Paige Beddles1 Episode, Streetwise

Video Games

YearTitleRole
1995Mission CriticalLieutenant Commander Tran