Sometimes when an actor’s popularity doesn’t extend past a certain decade it’s seen as a saddening thing since they might have been great at one point, but in some cases, it’s not so much that their greatness was stifled, it’s that it was mediocre for a while before they were given a role that people remembered. It’s not fair to say that Blanche Baker wasn’t ever popular since she’s been around for a while and had a pretty steady career for a while, but it is certainly accurate to state that she’s never been the kind of star that people will actively remember when there are bigger names in the room. It’s kind of hard to say this, but despite having a pretty face and a decent amount of talent, she doesn’t stand out that much and it shows. Her career hasn’t seen a lot of highs in the last decade, but she has been seen in several TV shows and in a few movies over the years, as she just completed a role in Alice Fades Away, a movie that came out this year. Apart from that, she’s been keeping her career fairly steady, but that’s about as far as it goes since some of her best roles were seen decades ago and since then she’s kind of been someone that’s there to add to the project she’s on, but might go mostly unnoticed.
One of the roles that she took on back in the 80s was in a movie that a lot of people have taken to putting down in recent years, and to be certain there were a few things that happened that were kind of iffy, especially by today’s standards, but her role was far-removed from most of it. Her role as Ginny was one that painted her as kind of a vain, almost vacuous blonde that was the older sister in the house who was getting married and didn’t have much time for her other siblings since she was a bit self-absorbed and definitely one of the calmest bridezillas ever seen in the movies. But the real fun about this is that during the preparation for her wedding Ginny’s younger sister Samantha, played by Molly Ringwald, was completely forgotten about on her 16th birthday, which is still a pretty important date for a lot of young women since the whole ‘sweet 16’ hasn’t quite died out yet, and to be forgotten on your birthday is still something of a huge faux pas, especially when it’s your parents and siblings, and grandparents, that forget about it all at once. But Ginny’s wedding took precedence and only made things harder since the day of the wedding it was seen that her ‘monthly bill’ as it was called in the movie, came due, which is one of the worst things to happen on the day of a wedding. The problem was only made worse when Ginny took four muscle relaxers right before the wedding and then became kind of a space case as she went almost limp on her way to the altar, as her father was nearly forced to carry her.
That part alone is one that a lot of people are bound to remember since not only did Blanche do a good job but it might have earned her a reputation as a dumb blonde had she not continued with her career and done a convincing job in the years that came after. It didn’t do much to elevate her that much since Sixteen Candles was one of her biggest and most memorable roles, while a lot of the other roles she’s taken on since then have been kind of hard to get psyched about since she’s usually starring with other, bigger names that people are able to remember and as a result she kind of fades into the background. But at the very least she’s been working steadily and has managed to keep herself busy. One can definitely get the feeling that those that were a part of various movies back in the 80s have either held on somehow and are now famous and have been rewarded for their patience, or are still around and plugging away at their career, or kind of gave up and went on to do other things as the years continued to pass by. Blanche has been getting by, there’s no doubt of that, but thinking that she made it big isn’t exactly accurate.
How long she’s going to stick around is anyone’s guess, but as long as there’s work then she’s likely welcome since she’s a decent actress and someone that can be a great asset to a project since she’s been around long enough to know what’s going on and where she can help. But as far as being someone that people will remember, well, some folks remember her at least.
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