Gorgeously buxom and curvaceous blonde bombshell Taaffe O'Connell was born into an upper class family on May 14, 1951 in Providence, Rhode Island. She primarily grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee and was a straight-A student in her grade school years. O'Connell received a masters degree in drama from the University of Mississippi. Taaffe moved to Hollywood, California to pursue an acting career. She started out doing guest spots on such TV shows as "Starsky and Hutch" (1975), "Baretta" (1975), "Police Woman" (1974), "Vega$" (1978) and "CHiPs" (1977). O'Connell made her film debut with an uncredited bit part in Rocky II (1979). Taaffe had a regular role as showgirl "Hillary S. Prentiss" on the short-lived sitcom "Blansky's Beauties" (1977). She played ill-fated nurse "Jane" in the cruddy seasonal slasher opus New Year's Evil (1980). Taaffe achieved her greatest enduring cult cinema popularity as "Dameia", a spaceship crew technical chief who gets gruesomely raped and killed by a giant slimy maggot in the marvelously warped sci-fi/horror winner Galaxy of Terror (1981). She went on to play wisecracking USO showgirl "Honey" in the trashy women-in- prison exploitation outing Caged Fury (1983) and insatiable German nymphomaniac "Brigitte Fritz" in the amusing lowbrow comedy romp Hot Chili (1985). Moreover, O'Connell made guest appearances on a handful of TV shows that included "Happy Days" (1974), "The Incredible Hulk" (1978), "Laverne & Shirley" (1976), "Archie Bunker's Place" (1979), "Three's Company" (1976), "Knight Rider" (1982), _"Dallas" (1978)_ (qv( and "Dangerous Women" (1991). More recently, Taaffe popped up in minor parts in the low-budget fright features The Stoneman (2002) and Dismembered (2003). Outside of acting, Taaffe O'Connell has developed a special directory to help out her fellow thespians, writes articles for magazines specializing in casting, and makes occasional guest appearances at film conventions.