Adrienne Barbeau

Personal context

Summary

Adrienne Barbeau is an actress and author known for playing Carol Traynor on Maude, originating Rizzo in Grease, and starring in genre films including The Fog, Escape from New York, and Creepshow. She has said she was among the few women playing powerful heroines early in her career and welcomed the later prominence of female-led films. Barbeau has described herself as committed to a woman’s right to choose, volunteered at a women’s health clinic during Maude, and wrote about the show’s abortion episodes and their relevance to reproductive rights. She has said she was not an activist or political before Maude brought her into contact with social issues.