Rebecca Schaeffer was a former Lincoln High School student from Portland who was just at the beginning of what promised to be a successful acting career in Los Angeles. But the 21-year-old’s life shockingly ended when an obsessed fan showed up at Schaeffer’s door and shot the young actress. Schaeffer died July 18, 1989.

The tragic death of Schaeffer made national news, led to changes in the law, and heightened awareness of the need for celebrities and others to be protected from stalkers. It will be once more explored on a new “20/20” two-hour documentary special this Friday.

Schaeffer had already costarred with Pam Dawber in the TV sitcom “My Sister Sam” and was, according to the ABC News press release, about to audition for a role in “The Godfather Part III” when she was killed.

Her stalker traveled from his home in Tucson, Arizona, to Los Angeles in search of the actress. The stalker had hired a private investigator, who obtained Schaeffer’s home address from the California Department of Motor Vehicles. After Schaeffer’s murder, California led the way in restricting access to personal information held by state DMVs, policies that went into effect across the country after Congress passed the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act in 1994.

20/20 'Your Biggest Fan' - 2-hour event special - Friday, April 12th at 9|8c on ABC Obsession & haunting tragedy in the shadows of Hollywood. Now, almost 30 years after actress and rising star Rebecca Schaeffer was killed by a stalker - new details, new interviews, and the phone call you just have to hear. WATCH “Your Biggest Fan” – the 20/20 2-hour event special, Friday at 9|8c on ABC. Posted by ABC 20/20 on Friday, April 5, 2019

The “20/20” documentary includes new interviews with Dawber, Schaeffer’s costar in “My Sister Sam”; director Brad Silberling, who was dating Schaeffer at the time; actress Dyan Cannon, who directed Rebecca in a movie called “The End of Innocence”; Erika Slezak, who was a star on the daytime soap opera, “One Life to Live,” the first TV series Schaeffer appeared in; Marcia Clark, the former Los Angeles prosecutor who prosecuted Schaeffer’s killer, and later went on to unsuccessfully prosecute O.J. Simpson during his murder trial; and Benson Schaeffer, Rebecca’s father.

Danna Schaeffer, Rebecca’s mother, shared her own reactions to the loss of her daughter in “You in Midair,” a solo show that she performed in Portland in 2017. In speaking to The Oregonian/OregonLive about her experiences, Schaeffer said she hoped audiences would “come away with a sense of Rebecca beyond the horror of her murder. I just hate to have her life defined by her death.”

The “20/20” special about Rebecca Schaeffer is part of a series of two-hour documentary programs that will conclude with the documentary about the actress. An earlier program in the series focused on the case of Diane Downs, who shot her three children, killing one.

The “20/20” documentary about Schaeffer’s life and death, “Your Biggest Fan,” airs at 9 p.m. Friday, April 12, on ABC.

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

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