Actress. She is best remembered as the ghost-hunting psychic from the "Poltergeist" movies of the 1980s. The 4'3" Rubinstein, who preferred the designation "little person", attended the University of Pittsburgh and the University of California, Berkeley, and went on to work as a blood bank technician. She lived for a number of years in London. Returning to the United States, she made the decision, at age 47, to switch to an acting career. Her film debut was in 1981's "Under the Rainbow". Rubinstein's break came with her performance as Tangina Barrons, the diminutive medium who searched for spirits in the house of a missing girl in the blockbuster "Poltergeist" (1982); she reprised the role in the sequels "Poltergeist II: The Other Side" (1986) and "Poltergeist III" (1988). Her other big screen appearances include "Sixteen Candles" (1984), "Teen Witch" (1989), "Little Witches" (1996), and "Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon" (2006). Rubinstein's television credits were many, the best known being as narrator of "Scariest Places on Earth" (both the American and Canadian versions), and the recurring part of dispatcher Ginny Weedon on "Picket Fences". She died of a combination of cardiac and respiratory problems. Of coming to terms with her short stature, she said: "I just decided it was a very interesting variation".
Actress. She is best remembered as the ghost-hunting psychic from the "Poltergeist" movies of the 1980s. The 4'3" Rubinstein, who preferred the designation "little person", attended the University of Pittsburgh and the University of California, Berkeley, and went on to work as a blood bank technician. She lived for a number of years in London. Returning to the United States, she made the decision, at age 47, to switch to an acting career. Her film debut was in 1981's "Under the Rainbow". Rubinstein's break came with her performance as Tangina Barrons, the diminutive medium who searched for spirits in the house of a missing girl in the blockbuster "Poltergeist" (1982); she reprised the role in the sequels "Poltergeist II: The Other Side" (1986) and "Poltergeist III" (1988). Her other big screen appearances include "Sixteen Candles" (1984), "Teen Witch" (1989), "Little Witches" (1996), and "Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon" (2006). Rubinstein's television credits were many, the best known being as narrator of "Scariest Places on Earth" (both the American and Canadian versions), and the recurring part of dispatcher Ginny Weedon on "Picket Fences". She died of a combination of cardiac and respiratory problems. Of coming to terms with her short stature, she said: "I just decided it was a very interesting variation".
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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