Sean Young and Batman

Remember Sean Young? You may have forgotten about her. She was an A-list actor back in the mid 1980s.

In Blade Runner (1982) she played the Replicant android Rachel. This was a scene stealing part that made her the toast of Hollywood. By 'toast' I mean that she was the talk of the town, not that people drank when they mentioned her.

Or that she was a piece of bread that had been slightly burned on the outside.

After Blade Runner she had several notable films including the blockbuster thriller No Way Out (1987).

Sean was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on November 20, 1959. Oh, by the way, she is not a man. She just has a name that people associate with men but can be used for either sex.

Other names in this category are Terry and Robin. Isn't learning fun?

Before she hit the big screen, Sean Young trained as a dancer at the American Ballet in New York and worked as a model.

This led to much confusion.

PHOTOGRAHPER KEN: Did you hire the model I needed?
ASSISTANT JOE: Yes, Sean Young.
PHOTOGRAHPER KEN: Joe you idiot! I need a woman; this is an ad for feminine hygiene products!
ASSISTANT JOE: Sean Young IS a woman!
PHOTOGRAHPER KEN: Really? You mean Sean is one of those names like Terry?
ASSISTANT JOE: Yeah, or Robin.
PHOTOGRAHPER KEN: Robin? Name one man with the name Robin!
ASSISTANT JOE: Robin Williams.
PHOTOGRAHPER KEN: The girl who married Mike Tyson?
ASSISTANT JOE: No that was Robin Givens.
PHOTOGRAHPER KEN: Oh yeah! He was on 'Saved by the Bell'.
ASSISTANT JOE: No, SHE was, and it was 'Head of the Class'.
PHOTOGRAHPER KEN: You’re fired. Jerk.

Whatever became of Assistant Joe is still a mystery. Some say he moved to the jungle, some say he lived as a fisherman forever married to the sea. Still others say I just made him up to fill space.

In the late 1980s Sean had a romance with actor James Woods. Then something went wrong and Woods filed a harassment suit against her. Then Young took out full-page magazine ads to defend her name.

"IT'S NOT A MAN'S NAME" The ads read.

No, I'm kidding. The ads were in reference to the harassment suit. This all led to Sean Young being know as a crazy woman around Hollywood.

Still, she was in demand in the movie business. Soon she was cast in the mega budget film Batman as Vicki Vale. After she started shooting she broke her collarbone during a horse riding scene in the film. The scene was cut from the film and Sean was replaced.

Not willing to walk away from Batman, Sean petitioned Director Tim Burton to cast her as Catwoman.

'Petitioned' is a bit of an understatement.

She went on a mad quest to be cast in this film and refused to let anything stand in her way. She showed up with her entourage searching the Warner Brothers lot looking for Burton.

SHE SHOWED UP IN A CATWOMAN COSTUME.

Burton said he hid from her in a bathroom.

Michelle Pfeiffer was cast in the part, but EVEN THAT didn't stop Sean. She went on The Aresenio Hall Show and Joan River's show wearing the Catwoman costume and doing the interview using the "purrrrfect" Catwoman voice.

So, Sean was considered difficult to deal with and possibly insane. She still worked consistently after that, but never in the same caliber performance.

Her most notable post-Batman part was Lt. Einhorn in Ace Ventura Pet Detective. You may remember this. She played a police officer who was actually a former male football player. It was hysterical.

By the way, there are at least three other Sean Youngs are listed in the IMDB and yes, they are all dudes.