Eighties Hacktress Triad

There is a triad of eighties hack actresses that have morphed and melded in my twin-seeking mind. None of them are ultra famous. Nor have any of them acted in anything that would have shattered your world. The key here is that all three are mixed up in my memory of the eighties along with all the unexceptional films these gals "starred" in (okay maybe that's a bit harsh - some of these films are pretty good to be fair). In no particular order, they are Jami Gertz, Phoebe Cates and Ione Skye. It's not that all three are overt physical twins in my mind... they just all fit a similar female "mould" and happen to have all peaked in the mid eighties (ish). Let's start with Gertz. Her peak was brief yet reasonably significant for lovers of slightly edgy mainstream eighties film culture. She starred in The Lost Boys and Less Than Zero (both made in 1987). The former I never had any urge to see as I had already immersed myself in much more graphic and fucked up violent flicks concerning any and all forms of vampires. The latter I saw and liked, although I was mostly alienated by the characters and it was therefore not a film I could relate to or call my own as teens like to do. I was 17 at the time. She was in countless other less important films and by the nineties was acting in more and more telemovies and TV series. She had a memorable role as one of Seinfeld's many dates in a 1994 episode. Commercial success came her way again briefly in 1996 in the mindless disaster flick Twister. Semi-regular appearances in ER and Ally McBeal followed as well as a series that featured Gertz as the star called Still Standing - the premise of which is so dull that I won't waste blog space on it... look it up yourself on IMDB or somesuch. Now onto Phoebe Cates. Her current biggest claim to fame is that she is married to the actor Kevin Kline (since 1989 - 2 kids). Her peak (eighties) was thanks to roles in three very unrelated classics of the era. A comedy, a sci-fi and a dark drama. Respectively they are Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Gremlins and Bright Lights Big City. The latter being comparable to Less Than Zero in it's themes of excessive cocaine addiction amongst emotionally empty middle class twots - see, a connection with Gertz! Okay now onto the best looking of the triad... Ione Skye. First thing to know about her is that her dad is the sixties hippie songwriter Donovan whose song Universal Soldier was one of many attempts to unite mankind and alert us all to the futility of war. My sister played it on her piano every day for a year when I was about 9. Second thing to know is that she was married to a Beastie Boy (the one with the most annoying vocal style). They were spouses for 8 years in the nineties. Now what about her movies you ask?? Yeah well that's the thing. Aside from River's Edge (a dark dark tale of aimless youth made in 1986) and 1989's Say Anything (an early John Cusack classic, although The Sure Thing from 5 years earlier is far funnier and more memorable) there ain't much of any note. Maybe Gas Food Lodging is worth a mention but I never saw it so I can't vouch and that's already the nineties so it ain't relevant for this here blogpoint. Okay so more importantly how do I rank them in the superficial sense? Ione is definitely the best looking (as I already mentioned above). Followed by Cates (although she always had a bit of a goody goody look which never did it for me. Sorry Jami, that leaves you lucky third. Whatever. By the way, Ione is currently married to Ben Lee (no comment).