Tami Stronach

Tami Stronach (born summer 1972) is an actor, dancer, filmmaker, and professor.

Tami Stronach
A bust-photo of a white woman with brown hair; she is wearing a white shirt and earrings, facing and looking to the camera's left.
Stronach at Rhode Island Comic Con
BornSummer 1972 (age 50–51)
Imperial State of Iran
Occupations
Years active1983–
Notable workThe Childlike Empress in
The NeverEnding Story
SpouseGreg Steinbruner
Children1 daughter
Parent

A childhood performance as the Childlike Empress in the 1984 film The NeverEnding Story led to a record deal and music video in Germany. Inappropriate attention to the young star led her to eschew acting, and instead focused on dancing. As an adult, she has branched into teaching, producing dance performances, filmmaking, and supporting child performers.

Personal life

Tami Stronach was born in summer[1] 1972 in the Imperial State of Iran.[2] Her parents were the archaeologists David Stronach from Scotland[3] (1931–2020)[4] and Ruth Stronach from Israel (née Vaadia; 1937–2017).[3] Stronach, her sister Keren, and their parents fled the Iranian Revolution[2] to Tel Aviv before moving to the United Kingdom and then to[5] California in 1981 to allow David to teach at the University of California, Berkeley.[6]

By late 2014, Stronach and her daughter Maya (born 2010 or 2011) lived in Brooklyn;[2] Stronach was married to Greg Steinbruner as of mid-2020.[7]

Performance career

In addition to her artistic projects, Stronach also followed in her father's footsteps, becoming a professor in New York City.[2]

Acting

As a child, Stronach studied musical theatre.[5] While portraying Piglet in a San Francisco stage adaptation of Winnie-the-Pooh, she was approached by the casting director for The NeverEnding Story and asked to audition for the role of the Childlike Empress. After three auditions, Stronach beat Heather O'Rourke to star in the 1984 film;[2] it has been her only major motion picture.[8] Ruth Stronach lived with her daughter in Bavaria for the three-month film shoot,[5] and afterwards declined a sequel contract for her daughter, worried about lacking the wherewithal to "help her daughter navigate the turbulent waters of childhood stardom in the film industry." After NeverEnding Story became a sensational success, the Stronachs were besieged with unwanted attention: their home and telephone were stalked, adults proposed to the eleven-year-old with engagement rings, and she received "offers from Hollywood to play roles featuring scenes (with nudity) completely inappropriate for someone her age."[2]

Stronach returned to acting in 2002 with a physical theatre company,[8] and by 2006 had performed in Chambre at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club and was continuing to study acting with Laura Esterman.[9]

Singing

During the junket for The NeverEnding Story, Stronach appeared on a German talk show and was asked how much German she had learned; after explaining she only knew the lyrics to "99 Luftballons", she agreed to sing live on TV. The next day, a music producer offered a record deal. With only three days left in the country, the Stronachs agreed to the contract, songs were written, and the young actress both recorded them and starred in a music video before returning to the US. She later said of the whirlwind experience: "It was insane, [...] And then literally that was it. We didn't change the ticket."[5]

Dancing

Switching her focus from acting to professional dancing after The NeverEnding Story, Stronach devoted herself to that study for ten years (through her twenties) in New York City.[8] In 1996, Stronach began dancing with Neta Pulvermacher and Dancers, though she has also exhibited her own productions at Dixon Place, Washington Square Park, and the Galápagos Islands.[9]

Credits
Year Medium Title Role Citation(s)
1983 Theatre Winnie-the-Pooh Piglet [2]
1984 Film The NeverEnding Story Childlike Empress [7]
2002 Theatre Signals of Distress Dog [10]

Production career

By the 2010s, Stronach had co-founded a theatre company called Shoehorn Theater; in 2012, they began creating a new play, Light: A Dark Comedy ("a group generative effort where everyone is involved in every step of the creation.")[2]

Steinbruner and Stronach created The Paper Canoe Company, an entertainment business that focused on "children's theatre, film, and education." After the TV series Stranger Things used "The NeverEnding Story" and renewed interest in Stronach and the 1984 film, the couple began making their own 1980s-styled fantasy film. Man & Witch stars Shohreh Aghdashloo,[5] Sean Astin, Michael Emerson, Christopher Lloyd, Rhea Perlman,[7] and Stronach's daughter, Maya. As of February 2023, the film was in post-production.[5]

References
  1. Cranswick, Amie (February 28, 2017). "Exclusive Interview: The NeverEnding Story star Tami Stronach". Flickering Myth. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  2. Fullana, Sion (December 29, 2014). "The Woman Who Makes Us Believe in Fantasy". Beacon Reader. Archived from the original on December 29, 2014. Retrieved July 28, 2020. If you grew up between the mid-late 80s and the 90s, Tami Stronach might have been part of your childhood's story. In the 30th anniversary of the film that brought her to screens worldwide when she was only 11, this New York based dancer, choreographer, performer and happy mom is ready to save a fantasy world again, in the play 'Light: a Dark Comedy.'
  3. "Papers of John Hansman and David Stronach". Jisc. Archived from the original on July 31, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  4. "Scottish archaeologist David Stronach, famed for intensive Iranian studies, dies at 89". Tehran Times. Tehran. June 28, 2020. ISSN 1563-860X. OCLC 49910014. Archived from the original on June 28, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2020. Scottish archaeologist David Stronach, who was director of the British Institute of Persian Studies in Iran in the 1960s and 1970s, has died aged 89.
  5. Tam, Adrienne (February 13, 2023). "Tami Stronach was 10 when she filmed The NeverEnding Story. Grown men camped outside her house". Mamamia. Archived from the original on February 14, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  6. "Archaeologist David Stronach, the 39th Recipient of the AIA's Gold Medal, Describes Highlights in a Long Career". UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science. University of California, Berkeley. June 8, 2004. Archived from the original on October 9, 2004. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  7. Ritman, Alex (July 8, 2020). "'NeverEnding Story' Queen Tami Stronach to Star in Fantasy Film With Sean Astin, Christopher Lloyd (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Lynne Segall. ISSN 0018-3660. Archived from the original on July 11, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020. The Jim Henson Creature Shop will be making puppets for the comic adventure 'Man & Witch,' described as an homage to the lo-fi fantasy films of the 1980s.
  8. WENN (May 6, 2005). "Forgotten Never Ending Story Star Returns". contactmusic.com. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  9. "The Company". Neta Dance Company. Archived from the original on May 27, 2006. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  10. McNulty, Charles (November 26, 2002). "Yanks Swim to England". The Village Voice. ISSN 0042-6180. Archived from the original on September 15, 2018. Retrieved July 28, 2020.

Further reading
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