Barbara Crampton is an American actress born on December 27, 1962 in Levittown, Long Island, New York. She was raised in Vermont and spent summers while growing up traveling the country with the carnival as her father was a carnie. He helped her develop a love for performing as a young girl. Barbara started acting in school plays when she was in seventh grade and went on to study acting in high school where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater Arts from Castleton State College in Vermont. After graduation, Barbara made a brief stop in New York where she appeared as Cordelia in King Lear for the American Theater of Actors.
From New York, Barbara moved to Los Angeles where she went on to star in the cult horror features Re-Animator, From Beyond and Castle Freak. She also has feature roles in the films Puppet Master and Fraternity Vacation.
Barbara made her television debut on the daytime drama Days of Our Lives, where she played the light-hearted role of Trista Evans Bradford. She went on to play Leanna Love on The Young and the Restless from 1987-1993, which earned her a Soap Opera Digest Award. She returned to the role from 1998-2002 and again in 2006-2007.
On October 1, 1988, Barbara married director of photography David Boyd and they divorced in 1990.
She also played Melinda Lewis on Guiding Light from 1993-1995 and left when her contract expired and when she got engaged to L.A.-based actor and director Kristoffer Tabori in April 1995. By September of the same year, their engagement was called off. She soon joined the cast of The Bold and the Beautiful playing Maggie Forrester Warwick from 1995-1998.
She has guest starred on The Nanny and can be seen in three feature films: Cold Harvest as Christine, one of the leading roles; Space Truckers alongside Dennis Hopper; and The Godson with Rodney Dangerfield and Dom DeLuise.
In December 1986, Crampton appeared in a nude pictoral in Playboy magazine titled "Simply Beastly. Behind every successful monster, there's a woman."
Crampton enjoys skiing and horseback riding and yoga. In addition, she also loves running, working out with weights, and enjoys going to flea markets and shopping for antiques. A few years ago, she started writing a book based on her life working and growing up in the carnival business.
Gorgeous, talented and charismatic blonde actress Barbara Crampton was born on December 27, 1962 in Levittown, Long Island, New York and raised in Vermont. Because her father was a carnie, Barbara spent her childhood summers traveling the country with the carnival. Crampton first began acting in school plays in 7th grade and studied acting in high school. She earned a BA in Theater Arts from Castleton State College. Following graduation Crampton portrayed Cordelia in an American Theater of Actors production of "King Lear" in New York. Barbara then moved to Los Angeles and made her TV debut with a recurring role on the popular daytime soap opera "Days of Our Lives." She had a brief, but memorable role as Craig Wasson's unfaithful girlfriend Carol in Brian De Palma's "Body Double" and was funny as the bubble-headed Chrissie in the crudely amusing comedy "Fraternity Vacation." Barbara achieved her greatest enduring cult popularity as sweet college coed Megan Halsey in Stuart Gordon's terrific "Re-Animator." She gave an excellent performance as the ambitious, but prim and repressed Dr. Katherine McMichaels in the equally fine "From Beyond." Crampton was quite engaging as the perky Suzie in the fun "Chopping Mall" and typically solid as the unhappy Susan in "Castle Freak." Barbara had recurring roles on the daytime television soap operas "The Guiding Light," "The Young and the Restless" (Crampton won a Soap Opera Digest Award for her acting on this show), and "The Bold and the Beautiful." Among the TV shows Crampton has done guest spots on are "The Nanny," "Pacific Blue," "Party of Five," "Hotel," and "Santa Barbara." Her hobbies include skiing, yoga, horseback riding, running, working out with weights and shopping for antiques at flea markets. Barbara Crampton lives right outside of San Francisco with her husband Robert Bleckman and two children.
