Last January, it was mistakenly announced that B-movie legend and 1993 Penthouse Pet of the Year Julie Strain had passed away. The announcement was quickly retracted – but in a sad twist of fate, friends and family are confirming that Strain has passed away almost one year to the day after that erroneous report. She was 58 years old.
It's been twelve years since Strain appeared in a movie, but in her nineteen years of acting she racked up over 130 credits, including an appearance in the Exorcist spoof Repossessed, Steven Seagal's Out for Justice, the Jean-Claude Van Damme film Double Impact, Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult, Beverly Hills Cop III, and the horror films Witchcraft IV: The Virgin Heart, Psycho Cop Returns, The Devil's Pet, Sorceress, Sorceress II: The Temptress, the Bare Wench franchise, How to Make a Monster, Thirteen Erotic Ghosts, and Blood Gnome, among others.
Her most well-known roles came in Heavy Metal 2000 and the Andy Sidaris films Fit to Kill, Day of the Warrior, and L.E.T.H.A.L. Ladies: Return to Savage Beach, as well as Christian Drew Sidaris's Enemy Gold and The Dallas Connection. Her half-sister Lizzy Strain followed her into acting, and the sisters both appeared in the films Bleed, Delta Delta Die!, Birth Rite, Bloodsucking Strippers, No Pain No Gain, Tales from the Crapper, Evil Ever After, Azira: Blood from the Sand, Chantal, The Devil's Muse, and Magus.
It was revealed in 2018 that Strain was suffering from degenerative dementia, an affliction that was tied to head trauma she received from a horse riding accident when she was in her twenties. That accident also gave her retrograde amnesia, which wiped much of her youth from her memories.
Strain was married to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman for over a decade. Her longtime companion Dave had been taking care of her during her final years, and he was holding her hand when she passed away early Sunday morning.
Our condolences go out to Strain's family, friends, and fans.