Can YOU guess who this actress is – 40 YEARS after she shot to fame sharing the screen

It has been 40 years since this actress shot to fame while sharing the screen with a then-little-known Tom Cruise as he launched to stardom in his breakout role. 

The now 73-year-old was thrust into the spotlight after portraying the role of a prostitute in one of Tom’s hit films.

The blockbuster saw a Chicago teen looking for fun at home while his parents were away – but the situation quickly got out of hand. 

So, 40 years after the box office hit was released, can you guess who it is? 

In case you haven’t put it together yet, the actress is Shera Danese who shot to fame alongside Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay in Risky Business.

In the film De Mornay’s character Lana gets intimate with Cruise’s high school-aged character Joel. 

And, after the encounter, she invites Vicki, played by Danese, over to crash at his house with her while his parents are out of town.

The trio get high together and after Lana wrecks Joel’s parents’ Porsche, she recruits Vicki and her other friends to turn the house into a brothel in order to raise money for the repairs. 

Following on from the success of Risky Business, Danese continued her a career as a Hollywood actress with her most notable appearances being in Baby Boom (1987), John Q (2002) and Alpha Dog (2006).

Beyond her professional success, she was married to actor Peter Falk.

The two were married for 34 years before he passed away from Alzheimer’s disease in 2011. 

Danese met the actor while he was making the 1976 film Mikey & Nicky in her hometown of Pennsylvania.

‘He saw me walking down the street and that was it,’ Danese previously told The LA Times.

In his 2017 biography Beyond Columbo, authors Richard A. Lertzman and William J. Brines penned that she initially turned down his offer but ended up conceding and grabbing a cocktail with him.

At the time, he was married to his first wife, Alyce Mayo. The book states that he had been unfaithful for a while but his behind-the-scenes rendezvous with Danese was seemingly the last straw.

The couple divorced in 1976 and that same year he brought Danese out to Hollywood where she made her first appearance in his show Columbo – even though she knew little about acting at the time.

‘As soon as I came out here in the mid-70s I did a Columbo,’ Danese said during her LA Times interview. ‘I was dumb then. I was just checking my lip gloss.’

In fact, her main goal was to become a singer ‘but when I came out here, I started acting. Singing seemed to be a harder business to get into.’

After tying the knot with Falk – who was 22 years her senior – in 1977, she appeared on Columbo once again. 

‘I was a mess. I didn’t know how to act as a person. I didn’t want to act like his wife,’ she said of her second appearance on the show.

She would work alongside her husband again in Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star (1991) but he had some stipulations around her appearance in the film. 

‘I wanted to play the rock star in this one, but he wouldn’t let me because she is in bed with some young guy,’ Danese explained. 

‘But I am singing her songs. How is that for a twist? She is doing the sex scenes and I am doing the singing.’

Outside of their on-screen appearances, their relationship was reputably rocky. 

‘They were known across Hollywood as the Fighting Falks, always arguing, breaking up, then reconciling,’ wrote Beyond Columbo author Lertzman, claiming Falk wasn’t faithful throughout their relationship.

‘They would have stand-up rows in public.’

However, through thick and thin, they stood by each other’s side.

When Falk was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2008, Danese slowed down her acting career – only making a cameo in the show Cold Case in 2010.

At the time, his doctor claimed he ‘rapidly slipped into dementia after a series of dental operations.’

During that period, the two resided in his $5million Beverly Hills estate.

His daughter, Catherine Falk, filed for conservatorship over her father in 2008.

As per The Guardian, court documents from that time stated that Falk required ‘full-time custodial care for his health and safety’ and was no longer able to protect himself against ‘fraud or undue influence.’ 

His daughter also asserted that her father could not ‘recognize his physical needs or communicate those needs to others who can meet them.’  

In addition to the court documents, Catherine claimed through her lawyer, Steven Hogan, that Danese had ‘cruelly’ prevented her ‘and others’ from visiting Peter since Father’s Day in June.  

‘He has Alzheimer’s that has gotten significantly worse. She wants to make sure he gets the care he needs,’ Hogan said at the time.

After hip surgery in 2010, he deteriorated even further and ultimately passed away in June 2011. 

‘He died very peacefully with his wife by his side,’ a source told Radar at the time.

‘Peter left the bulk of his estate to Shera,’ a source told the showbiz website. 

‘The house that the two of them lived in together, art work, investment accounts, and more have been left to Shera.’

Citing the drama between her and her step-daughter Catherine, the source revealed that Catherine had been quickly denied conservatorship at the time, finding Danese to be a reliable caretaker. 

‘Peter’s daughter Catherine had a very strained relationship with her stepmother, Shera for years, and tried to get conservatorship of Peter several years ago,’ the source added.

‘The judge flatly denied that request because Shera proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was providing excellent care of her husband at home.’

Since Falk’s passing, Danese has continued to live a fulfilling life. 

She was honored with the Albert Schweitzer Award at the Last Chance for Animals Gala in 2015.

In a video pre-recorded for the gala, Danese revealed that she has dedicated her life to helping rescue dogs. 

‘It’s very rewarding to take an animal that no one else wants to give a chance to,’ she said in the video as she played with her five dogs.

‘You do know animal people are crazy?’ She joked in the video. ‘I just brought anything home that was on the street.’

Her most recent red carpet outing was at the 2022 premiere of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, during which she was pictured alongside Kathy Hilton.