The death of Vanity, the Canadian pin-up actress and singer of the 1980s, has been announced. She had spent a couple of decades out of the spotlight, but in her heyday commanded a loyal cult following almost as much for her posters as her other pursuits. A model, she broke into acting in such films as Terror Train and the singular Tanya's Island where she was in a love triangle with a man and a gorilla, but when Prince "discovered" her and gave her the name Vanity, then placed her in a pop group called Vanity 6 (Nasty Girl was their biggest hit), stardom was assured.
As were more movie roles, and she won a lead in the Motown martial arts fantasy The Last Dragon. Next was bizarre action movie Never Too Young to Die and Elmore Leonard adaptation 52 Pick Up, an actual, decent film from Cannon. An inevitable guest part in Miami Vice followed, as did Deadly Illusion and Action Jackson, considered one of the most underrated of 80s action flicks. More television work took her into the 90s, including episodes of Tales from the Crypt and Highlander, but her star was falling and her last movie, Kiss of Death, was in 1997. Throughout this time she had been suffering from a serious drugs problem, and though she managed to clean herself up by becoming a born again Christian, she preferred to put her fame behind her from then on, reverting to her given name of Denise Matthews. She had suffered poor health for some time.
