# Stacey Nelkin
**Stacey Nelkin** (born 1959, New York City) is an American film and television actress best known for her leading role as Ellie Grimbridge in *Halloween III: Season of the Witch* (1982), and for appearances in comedies including *Serial* (1980), *Get Crazy* (1983), and *[Yellowbeard](https://www.edgepedia.org/yellowbeard)* (1983).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0625030/bio/) • [2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/251262) Her teenage relationship with [Woody Allen](https://www.edgepedia.org/woody-allen) is credited as the inspiration for the character Tracy in his film *[Manhattan](https://www.edgepedia.org/manhattan-1979-film)* (1979).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0625030/bio/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1959, New York City, New York, USA[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0625030/bio/) |
| Signature role | Ellie Grimbridge in *Halloween III: Season of the Witch* (1982)[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/251262) |
| Early film work | Marlene in *Serial* (1980), Cynthia in *Going Ape!* (1981), Susie in *Get Crazy* (1983), Triola in *Yellowbeard* (1983)[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/251262) |
| Television | Guest roles on *CHiPs*, *The Waltons*, *The A-Team*, *Murder, She Wrote*, *The Twilight Zone*, and *Fringe*; 28 episodes as Christy Russell #2 on the soap opera *Generations* (1990)[3](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/29425/stacey-nelkin) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0625030/) |
| Cut role | Cast as Mary, the "Sixth Replicant" in *Blade Runner* (1982); the part was cut just before shooting because of the film's escalating budget[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0625030/bio/) |
| Writing | Author of *You Can't Afford to Break Up: How an Empty Wallet and a Dirty Mind Can Save Your Relationship* (2009); writes the website The Daily Affair[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0625030/bio/) |
| Marriages | Barry Bostwick (1987–1990), Thomas Sachs Morgan (1995–1997), Marco Greenberg (married 1998, three children)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0625030/bio/) |
## Early life and start in acting
Nelkin grew up in New York City and described her childhood as shaped by an absent father; she has said she fantasized about characters such as Quentin from *Dark Shadows* saving her, and that this personal need drew her toward performing.[5](https://crypticrock.com/interview-stacey-nelkin/) Living in Manhattan made it easy for her to find representation, and she obtained an agent at fourteen.[5](https://crypticrock.com/interview-stacey-nelkin/) She attended [Stuyvesant High School](https://www.edgepedia.org/stuyvesant-high-school), a selective public school in New York, while already auditioning professionally after school each day, and graduated with honors.[6](https://popgeeks.com/the-flashback-interview-stacey-nelkin/)
Her earliest screen work was in television. She appeared in an episode of *CHiPs* broadcast in February 1978 and in *The Waltons* episode "The Calling" in September 1978, and built a run of guest parts through the late 1970s on shows including *Eight Is Enough* and *Trapper John, M.D.*[3](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/29425/stacey-nelkin) • [7](https://halloweenmovies.com/films/halloween-iii-1982/halloween-iii-cast-stacey-nelkin/) The American Film Institute's catalog also records an offscreen credit on *Annie Hall* (1977).[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/251262)
## Film career
Nelkin broke into feature films with the 1980 comedy *Serial*, playing a cashier named Marlene in a satire of hippies turning into yuppies.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/251262) • [6](https://popgeeks.com/the-flashback-interview-stacey-nelkin/) She followed it with *Going Ape!* (1981), then moved into the 1982 horror film that defines her reputation, and closed the early 1980s with two 1983 comedies, *Get Crazy* and *Yellowbeard*.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/251262)
**Halloween III: Season of the Witch.** Nelkin came to the role of Ellie Grimbridge late and almost by accident. The makeup artist Ron Walters, whom she knew from the miniseries *The Last Convertible* (1979), was working on the production and told her the filmmakers could not find their lead actress; with shooting about two weeks away, her agent persuaded her to read the script, she auditioned, and she learned she had the part as she walked in her front door.[5](https://crypticrock.com/interview-stacey-nelkin/) She had never seen the first two *Halloween* films before taking the role, and after watching them realized that the third film had nothing to do with them.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0625030/bio/)
The shoot in [Northern California](https://www.edgepedia.org/northern-california) presented specific difficulties she has described in interviews: a love scene governed by a "no nipple clause" in her contract that made framing difficult for director Tommy Lee Wallace and co-star Tom Atkins, early-morning body paint applied with a cold sponge, and life-cast masks and an arm replica made from her own body.[8](https://halloweendailynews.com/2015/10/stacey-nelkin-interview/) She has recalled the scene in which her character's robot double is decapitated, filmed with a stand-in of her exact body size lying several feet away, as the strangest part of the production.[8](https://halloweendailynews.com/2015/10/stacey-nelkin-interview/)
The film performed poorly on release. Nelkin has said it was "in and out of theaters in a week or two, if that long," and that the cast wrote it off.[8](https://halloweendailynews.com/2015/10/stacey-nelkin-interview/) Over the following decades it became a cult classic through word of mouth, and she attributes part of its renewed appeal to its depiction of media and computer-driven mass manipulation, which she calls ahead of its time.[8](https://halloweendailynews.com/2015/10/stacey-nelkin-interview/) She now appears at horror conventions and has said she would return to the franchise in a cameo.[7](https://halloweenmovies.com/films/halloween-iii-1982/halloween-iii-cast-stacey-nelkin/) • [8](https://halloweendailynews.com/2015/10/stacey-nelkin-interview/)
**The role that got away.** Nelkin was originally cast as Mary, the "Sixth Replicant," in *Blade Runner* (1982); because of the film's escalating budget, her role was cut just before shooting began.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0625030/bio/) • [7](https://halloweenmovies.com/films/halloween-iii-1982/halloween-iii-cast-stacey-nelkin/)
## Later work
Through the 1980s she continued in television guest parts, including *The A-Team*, *Murder, She Wrote*, *Finder of Lost Loves*, *Hunter*, and an episode of the 1985 *The Twilight Zone* revival.[3](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/29425/stacey-nelkin) From 1990 she played Christy Russell #2 in 28 episodes of the soap opera *Generations*.[4](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0625030/) Woody Allen cast her in *Bullets Over Broadway* (1994), and her last AFI-cataloged feature credit is *Everything Relative* (1996), in which she played Katie.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0625030/bio/) • [2](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/251262)
She took a break from acting in 1996 and has since made occasional appearances on television and in short films, including *The Forest Hills* (2023).[7](https://halloweenmovies.com/films/halloween-iii-1982/halloween-iii-cast-stacey-nelkin/) • [9](https://www.kinopoisk.ru/name/91008/) Outside acting she writes about parenting and relationships on her website The Daily Affair, published the relationship book *You Can't Afford to Break Up* in 2009, and has said she was working toward certification as a drug and alcohol counselor, a pursuit she connects to her father's death from heroin.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0625030/bio/) • [6](https://popgeeks.com/the-flashback-interview-stacey-nelkin/) • [8](https://halloweendailynews.com/2015/10/stacey-nelkin-interview/)
## Personal life
Nelkin has been married three times: to actor [Barry Bostwick](https://www.edgepedia.org/barry-bostwick) from February 1987 to July 1990, to Thomas Sachs Morgan from 1995 to 1997, and to Marco Greenberg since October 1998, with whom she has three children.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0625030/bio/) In interviews she has spoken openly about dating Woody Allen when she was seventeen, while a high school senior, and has said the relationship inspired the character Tracy, played by [Mariel Hemingway](https://www.edgepedia.org/mariel-hemingway), in *Manhattan* (1979).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0625030/bio/) • [6](https://popgeeks.com/the-flashback-interview-stacey-nelkin/)
## References
1. [Stacey Nelkin – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0625030/bio/)
2. [Stacey Nelkin filmography, AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/251262)
3. [Stacey Nelkin, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/29425/stacey-nelkin)
4. [Stacey Nelkin, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0625030/)
5. [Interview – Stacey Nelkin, Cryptic Rock (February 24, 2015)](https://crypticrock.com/interview-stacey-nelkin/)
6. [The Flashback Interview: Stacey Nelkin, PopGeeks (March 20, 2017)](https://popgeeks.com/the-flashback-interview-stacey-nelkin/)
7. [Halloween III Cast: Stacey Nelkin, HalloweenMovies.com](https://halloweenmovies.com/films/halloween-iii-1982/halloween-iii-cast-stacey-nelkin/)
8. [Interview: Stacey Nelkin Talks Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Halloween Daily News (October 9, 2015)](https://halloweendailynews.com/2015/10/stacey-nelkin-interview/)
9. [Стейси Нелкин, Кинопоиск](https://www.kinopoisk.ru/name/91008/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Mo to N*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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