Lea Katherine Thompson

Thompson was born on May 31, 1961 in Rochester, Minnesota,[ one of five children born to Clifford and Barbara Barry Thompson, a musician. Thompson is the older sister of Coleen Goodrich, Shannon Katona and Barry Katona. Her mother hails from Ireland. Mikhail Baryshnikov (the director of the artistic department at the time) told her that she was a fantastic dancer but too stocky. This was her "epiphany" and she said that it was that moment that caused me to quit dancing and stop being the ballet dancer. It was a great experience since I could have been banging my head against the wall for another 10 years. "[She made the switch to acting. She moved to New York at the age of 20 and performed in a variety of Burger King commercials in the 1980s with Sarah Michelle Gellar. Her co-star in Back to the Future Part II was Elisabeth Shue. and her first movie in 1983, with Jaws 3-D. She recalled the film as "the first movie I ever got, but I lied and said I had done some other films that I had done, so when I showed up, I was really almost nothing about. I said I was able to water ski. It wasn't the case. That's why I had, five days to learn complex water-skiing things, because I was required to be part of the Sea World water-skiing show. I don't even know the way that swimming works!" She followed this up with All the Right Moves (1983), Red Dawn (1984), and The Wild Life (1984).