Donna Pescow

The Weight of a Brooklyn Debut

Donna Pescow had to gain nearly twenty pounds so that John Badham would see her as Annette. She had just studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and didn't want to let the opportunity of a lifetime slip by in 1977. Her role in Saturday Night Fever pulled her out of obscurity, but it also typecast her as the heartbroken girl from a New York neighborhood.

And she made it happen.

Her Brooklyn accent was real. But for the movie, she had to exaggerate it until it was almost annoying to viewers. The film was such a huge hit that the industry took years to see her as anything beyond the dance floor of the 2001 Odyssey disco.

Television as a Golden Refuge

In 1979, Angie came along. The series lasted just two seasons, but it proved she could carry a major production as the undisputed lead. She earned a Golden Globe nomination, and suddenly her face was on the binders of teenagers all across the United States.

After that, the phone stopped ringing as often as expected.

For years she jumped from set to set in supporting roles until, in 1987, she signed on for Out of This World. She played the mother of a teenager who talked to her alien father through a pane of glass. The show lasted four years on the air and gave her the financial stability that movies had denied her after the disco music craze.

Recycled on the Disney Channel

In the late nineties, her career took a different turn when she agreed to enter the world of daytime soap operas. In 1999, she joined the cast of All My Children to play Dr. Rae Cummings.

But younger audiences remember her for something else.

Between 2000 and 2003, she played Eileen Stevens in the teen series Even Stevens. She worked side by side with a very young Shia LaBeouf across 65 episodes. At the time, Disney was looking for experienced actresses who could hold their own against kids with boundless energy.

In 2017, she appeared in The Flash, playing Dr. Sharon Finkel. Her appearance was limited to one episode of the fourth season titled When Flash Met Night.

In 2022, she took part in the miniseries Welcome to Chippendales, playing Edie. Filming took place mainly on location in Los Angeles under the direction of Matt Shakman.