Patricia Charbonneau has one of the most baffling uncredited appearances in cinema history, especially with it being one of her most notable parts in a mainstream film.
The actress would appear as Linda Garcia in Robocop 2, but fans of her in the role would scramble for a name. So where did she end up in all this mystery?
Patricia was set from a child to being an actress, born in Valley Stream, Long Island in April of 1959 and going through school as the youngest of her family’s ten children.
She would live and go to school for her entire childhood in Valley Stream, even sharing classrooms on occasion with noted actor and 9/11 firefighter Steve Buscemi before any of them made it to the big time.
Love in the Desert
Which wouldn’t take too long for Patricia. She would begin acting in local and smaller theater productions around the home before ditching Boston University one month in for a position with an acting troupe out of the Catskills. Patricia went on from plays to make a debut in a very early choose-your-own-adventure game in 1983 before taking on her first and most daring feature film role in Desert Hearts.
Patricia Charbonneau took a massive risk by being in a lesbian romance film in 1985. Hollywood is just now coming around to queer characters being portrayed in the mainstream, and a role like this could have put her career dead in the water before it even began.
The film went on to be a massive success though, as it followed Patricia as a woman seeking a divorce in 50s Reno, ending up in a passionate romance with a woman she meets while there. Patricia would make her mark, earning praise for her earnest, vulnerable performance in her debut film.
Robo-couldn’t Give Her a Credit More Like
Did her career suffer? Not especially, with roles coming in quickly for guest spots on Matlock and starring in Michael Mann and Brian Cox’s take on the Hannibal Lecter stories, Manhunter before moving on to the sci-fi horror Braindead to finish out the decade.
Not Peter Jackson’s splatter comedy Braindead, to be clear, but the Bill Pullman/Bill Paxton cult sci-fi hit that wasn’t quite as remembered. Still a decent watch though.
A sequel to the hit Paul Verhoeven film Robocop would bring a massive bright spot for her to start the 90s on, even without Verhoeven onboard for the sequel. A script by Frank Miller and direction by Empire Strikes Back director Irvin Kershner in his last directing credit.
Though Patricia would have a massive place in the plot, she would be uncredited for her role and fans would have to do some eagle-eyed research to even find out her character’s name in the film.
Where is Patricia Charbonneau Now?
The nineties wouldn’t go to the heights of stardom Patricia probably hoped for, instead being a mishmash of television guest roles before capping off the millennium with her most baffling IMDB credit, online fighting game MUGEN.
It’s open source and has been going since 1999, allowing players to fight hardcore battles between characters like Tom Hanks, Godzilla, and Naruto Uzumaki among hundreds of others. That’s barely scratching the surface.
Notably, Patricia and her husband Vinnie Caggiano would marry before her career got off the ground in 1982, and actually find out they were having their first child during the filming of Desert Hearts. They are still married, and their only child is now forty years old.
Patricia took a hard step back following reduced roles in 2008, making her last credits in guest spots on Law and Order before making her final appearance in the Famke Janssen horror 100 Feet that same year.
She has recently made a comeback to acting, taking the time off until 2020 to instead focus on dramatic roles on the stage as well as teaching acting to up-and-coming students.
She reappeared with a role in the indie film Skipping Stones and has more on the production schedule that should release later this year.