ABOUT THE PERFORMERS

JOBETH WILLIAMS portrays Diane Freeling in "Poltergeist II:the Other Side," recreating the heroic yet terrified housewife who was "willing to go to hell and back to save her child," as she in the 1982 hit thriller, "Poltergeist."

Since then, Williams has starred in a variety of motion pictures, including writer/director Lawrence Kasdan's 1983 hit ensemble drama, "The Big Chill," and "Desert Bloom," which she completed along with Jon Voight and Ellen Barkin just prior to the start of production on "Poltergeist II." Over the past three years, she has also starred in two outstanding movies for television –– "Adam," for which she received an Emmy nomination as Best Actress, and "The Day After."

Following her graduation from Brown University, Williams' extracurricular interest in acting evolved from a diversion into a passion. She elected to leave academia behind, joining the prestigious Trinity Repertory Theatre in Rhode Island at first and later to other regional companies.

After honing her stage skills at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, the Charles Theatre in Boston, and at the Arena Theatre in Washington D.C., she moved to New York and began a two and a half year stretch in such daytime television dramas as "The Guiding Light" and "Somerset."

Williams made her New York stage debut off-Broadway in Weller's "Moonchildren." Her other notable theatre credits include the American premiere of D.H. Lawrence's "The Daughter-In-Law," "Uncle Vanya," "A Couple of White Chicks Sittin' Around Talkin'," "Ladyhouse Blues,' and "Gardenia."

Following her 1979 motion picture debut in "Kramer Vs. Kramer," Williams appeared in "Stir Crazy" and "Dogs of War." After being brought to national attention by "Poltergeist" in 1982, she went on to star in Alan Rudolph's "Endangered Species," "The Big Chill," "American Dreamers," "Teachers" and "Desert Bloom" before rejoining the Freeling family for "Poltergeist II."

Since starring as Steve Freeling in "Poltergeist," CRAIG T. NELSON has added such motion pictures as "Silkwood," "The Killing Fields," and "All The Right Moves" to his growing list of credits. His most prominent achievement during the past four years, however, was the television series, "Call To Glory," in which he portrayed U.S. Air Force Colonel Raynor Sarnac. Shortly before the release of "Poltergeist II," Nelson was seen in the starring role of the television movie, "Alex, The Life of a Child."

Born, raised and educated through high school in Spokane, Washington, Nelson attended two colleges in the state of Washington before enrolling at the University of Arizona to study drama. He continued his acting training through a scholarship to the Oxford Theatre in Los Angeles, where he and a fellow student, Barry Levinson, first broke into the industry as comedy writers, along with Rudy DeLuca, for the popular "Lohman and Barkley Radio Show." He and his writing partners were awarded with local Emmy Awards for their efforts in 1969 and 1970.

Nelson continued to write during the next three years, adding such television programs as "The Tim Conway Show" and an Alan King special to his credits. He also made guest appearances on most of the major television talk shows, and even on the then-hit comedy series, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."

In 1973, Nelson and his family moved to a retreat in the Mt. Shasta area of northern California, returning to the industry after four and a half years to produce a series of fifty-two half-hour films documenting the rural lifestyles of many contemporary artists, entitled "American Still." 1978 brought Nelson back in Los Angeles, where he appeared on such television series as "Charlie's Angels," "Wonder Woman," "How the West Was Won," "The White Shadow," "WKRP in Cincinnati," and later, "Private Benjamin" and "Paper Dolls."

In 1979, Nelson made his motion picture debut in "And Justice For All." He added "The Formula," "Where the Buffalo Roam," "Private Benjamin," and "Stir Crazy" to his list of credits before starring in "Poltergeist" in 1982. Since then, Nelson has appeared in five additional films, including "A Man, A Woman and A Child" and "The Osterman Weekend" as well as "Silkwood," "All The Right Moves" and "The Killing Fields."

Nelson's television movie credits are extensive, and include "Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker," "Inmates: A Love Story," "Murder in Texas," "Rage," "Toast of Manhattan" and "Chicago Story," which gave birth to the series of the same name in which Nelson also starred.

HEATHER O'ROURKE made her motion picture debut at the age of five as little Carol Anne in "Poltergeist." By the time principal photography had been completed on "Poltergeist II" she had nearly turned ten –– yet even now, she is same blonde-haired, blue-eyed darling whose innocent love is a beacon to the forces of darkness that will not leave the Freeling family alone.

Discovered by Steven Spielberg in the MGM Commissary while lunching with her mother and older sister, Tammy, Heather was no stranger to the entertainment industry before her motion picture debut. She had already appeared in numerous commercials, including one of McDonald's longest running on-air ads, and a much-aired spot for Mattel's "My First Barbie" campaign.

Following her smashing movie debut, Heather co-starred as Linda Purl's bright and beautiful daughter on the popular prime-time comedy series, "Happy Days." She has also made guest appearances on such other series as "Fantasy Island," "Maserati and the Brain, and had a recurring role on "Webster."

Born in San Diego, Heather lives in with her parents and sister in Big Bear, California. A fifth grader, she has served as student body president of her school, and enjoys studying English and social studies. She loves outdoor sports of all kinds, and has a special friend in Bee, her St. Bernard.

When asked if making the "Poltergeist" films frightened her, Heather remarks, "No. They were just movies, and I had fun making them." Her favorite scene? "At the breakfast table in the first movie, because we got to fight and throw things at each other."

As Robbie, the young man of the Freeling family, OLIVER ROBINS was snatched from the safety of his own bed by a gnarled tree with an appetite for small children in "Poltergeist." Four years may have elapsed, but they still know how to scare Robbie –– and in "Poltergeist II," they have something especially shocking in mind for Steve and Diane's only son.

Born in Miami Beach, Florida, Oliver reached his fourteenth birthday shortly after the completion of principal photography on "Poltergeist II." Since making his motion picture debut as one of the frightened Freelings in 1982, Robins has appeared in two motion pictures, "Airplane II" and "Million Dollar Infield," and a suspenseful television movie, "Don't Go To Sleep." Most recently, he appeared in an episode of the popular new "Twilight Zone" series.

Outside of his acting career, Oliver keeps himself busy as the writer, producer and director of his own film projects. At the time he completed his duties on "Poltergeist II," he had completed two films –– "The Day Pac Man Ate The Earth," and "Egg Deco: The Egg Adventure" –– and had just finished the script for "Slim's Crystal," his third.

To create these fifteen minute-long animated shorts, Oliver serves as both artist and cameraman. He explains that the secret of his success is his IBM PC, which he keeps in his programming room at home.

Now residing in Los Angeles with his family, Oliver is a ninth grader at present.

As the malevolent Reverend Henry Kane, the dark spectre who casts a shadow of annihilation across the loving Freelings, JULIAN BECK offers a devastating portrait of evil in his final screen performance.

In 1947 Beck and his wife, Judith Malina, co-founded the Living Theatre, an experimental theatre troupe which reached the height of its influence on the New York scene in the late Fifties and Sixties. Both political activists, Beck and Malina's acts of civil disobedience led to arrests and jail terms both at home and abroad. When their Greenwich Village theatre was closed in l974, the Living Theatre continued to perform in cities overseas, where its work was highly acclaimed.

Born in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, Beck attended Yale and initially pursued abstract expressionist painting before devoting himself to "the work." In the early Sixties, he and Malina began to refine and combine their own techniques with those proposed by Artaud, who believed that a "theatre of cruelty" could shock passive theatre-goers into interacting with the material.

From this concept Beck and Malina developed what they described as collective creations –– and through such works as "Paradise Now," "Antigone" and "Frankenstein," their Living Theatre achieved its greatest renown. In 1984, the troupe returned to New York for the first time in ten years to present "The Archaeology of Sleep."

Prior to "Poltergeist II," Beck's most recent accomplishments included an appearance in "The Cotton Club" for director Francis Coppola, multiple appearances on the daytime drama, "All My Children," and an episode of "Miami Vice" which aired during the 1985-86 television season.

Following completion of his performing chores on "Poltergeist II," Beck had planned to reopen the Living Theatre in New York; one of its first productions was to be based upon the poems of LeRoi Jones, a.k.a. Imamu Amiri Baraka.

Julian Beck succumbed to cancer on September 14, 1985.

In "Poltergeist," ZELDA RUBINSTEIN portrayed psychic Tangina Barrons as a woman whose knowledge and inner strength inspired courage in others. Four years later, Rubinstein returns to a character whose own fears are ignited by the strength of the adversary she must help the Freelings confront.

Since originating the role of the diminutive medium in 1982, Rubinstein has appeared in the motion picture, "Sixteen Candles" for director John Hughes. She has also added various television movies and series to her list of credits, including "Eye to Eye," "Jennifer Slept Here," "Matt Houston," "I Gave at the Office," and "Whiz Kids."

Prior to "Poltergeist," Rubinstein appeared in such motion pictures as "Under the Rainbow," "Die Laughing," and "Americathon." Her stage credits are extensive, and include "Three Confessions" and "1984," performed at the Cast Theatre in Hollywood; "Slab Boys," performed at the Back Alley Theatre in Los Angeles; and "Deathtrap," performed at the Town and Gown Theatre in Birmingham, Alabama.

Rubinstein has also appeared as a guest on numerous talk shows, including "Today," "Mike Douglas," and "Entertainment Tonight."

WILL SAMPSON brings a lifetime of knowledge about his people and their culture to the role of Taylor, a native American shaman whose mysterious presence guides and protects the Freeling family during their dreadful ordeal in "Poltergeist II." A full-blooded member of the Musgokee tribe, Sampson himself is a shaman, a man who sees the practice of his religion as a path toward helping others.

Born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, Sampson is an artist, a teacher and a gallery owner, a self-taught painter who sold his first work at the age of three. He discovered his love of acting when he was offered the role of Chief Bromden in "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest," in which he starred alongside Jack Nicholson. Sampson earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his performance in "Cuckoo's Nest," his first film.

Since then, Sampson has starred in such films as "Buffalo Bill and the Indians," "The Outlaw Josey Wales," "White Buffalo," "Orca" and "Old Fish Hawk," a role which earned him the Toronto Film Festival's Best Foreign Actor Award in 1979. He has also appeared on such television series as "Vega$," and in such mini-series as "Alcatraz" and "From Here to Eternity."

Sampson's recent activities include the mini-series, "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee," based upon the book by Dee Brown. In addition, he recently narrated a PBS film series, "Images of the Indian," which examines stereotyping of the American Indian in the motion picture industry. He founded the American Indian Registry for the Performing Arts, and serves as a director on the board of the American Indian Film Institute.

A loving and clairvoyant woman who provides special guidance to her daughter, Diane, and her grand-daughter, little Carol Anne, in our world and on "the other side," Gramma Jess is portrayed by GERALDINE FITZGERALD. "Poltergeist II" is the distinguished actress' forty-third motion picture, in a screen career that began over five decades ago with "Open All Night." Her American movie career began with "Dark Victory" in 1939, in which she joined Bette Davis, George Brett and Humphrey Bogart.

Fitzgerald received her first Oscar nomination for her second motion picture performance –– as Laurence Olivier's maltreated wife in "Wuthering Heights." Since that time, she has secured a position as one of the most respected actresses on the stage as well as the screen, with countless plays to her credit. Fitzgerald's television accomplishments are numerous as well, and include an Emmy as Best Actress for her performance in the NBC daytime special, "Rodeo Red and the Runaway."

Most recently, she surprised critics and audiences alike with her outrageous comedic antics in "Arthur" and "Easy Money." Similar praise greeted her performances in the television mini-series, "Kennedy," in which she portrayed Rose Kennedy, and in the television movie, "Do You Remember Love," in which she played Joanne Woodward's mother.

Fitzgerald toured the nation successfully prior to joining the cast of "Poltergeist II" with "Streetsongs," a one-woman singing show televised by PBS and recorded as an album. She made her theatrical directing debut in 1980 with "Mass Appeal," for which she received a Tony nomination, and has since gone on to establish herself as one of New York's most successful woman directors.

Recently, she directed Joseph Papp's all-black production of "Long Day's Journey Into Night;" the off-Broadway hit, "The Return of Herbert Bracewell;" as well as two productions which were running with this writing –– Carol Hall's musical, "To Whom It May Concern," and Bill C. Davis' "Wrestlers."

On April 21, 1986, Fitzgerald was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in Broadway's Gershwin Theatre. She was the first actress to receive New York's Handel Medallion, and she holds an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Aldephi University.