| Intro | American actress |
| Is |
Actor Businessperson Film actor Television actor Entrepreneur |
| From |
Malaysia United States of America |
| Type |
Business Film, TV, Stage & Radio |
| Gender | female |
| Birth | 5 July 1966, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| Age: | 54 years |
Claudia Grace Wells (born July 5, 1966) is an American actress.
Life and career
Born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, she spent her early childhood years growing up in Punto Fijo, Carirubana, Falcón in Venezuela, later graduating from high school in San Francisco, California, where she was also raised. After appearances in TV shows, Wells played Jennifer Parker, Marty McFly’s girlfriend, in the 1985 film Back to the Future. She almost did not end up in the first film of the successful franchise. According to Wells, in an interview with Yahoo.com online entertainment series “The Yo Show”, she had been cast, but a pilot she had done for ABC had been picked up, and she was contractually forced to drop out of BTTF. During that time, Eric Stoltz had been shooting for five weeks with Melora Hardin slated for the role of Jennifer (though she never actually had the opportunity to film any scenes), but the producers halted filming and replaced Stoltz with Michael J. Fox. By then, Wells’ pilot had been finished and she was recast as Jennifer, now shooting alongside Fox, never having filmed a frame with Stoltz.
After her mother was diagnosed with cancer, Wells said family took precedence and told the studio she would not be available to reprise the role for the two sequels; actress Elisabeth Shue replaced her. That same year (1985), Wells co-starred in Stop the Madness, an anti-drug music video sponsored by the Reagan administration, featuring several famous musicians, actors and athletes. The following year, she appeared in the TV movie Babies Having Babies, and the short-lived series Fast Times, a TV adaptation of the 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Wells played Linda Barrett, portrayed by Phoebe Cates in the film). Following Fast Times, she did not again appear on-screen until the 1996 independent film Still Waters Burn (released on DVD February 12, 2008).
Return to acting
After a lengthy absence, Wells returned to acting in 2011 with a small role in the independent science-fiction film Alien Armageddon.
The same year Wells had the opportunity to reprise her role from Back to the Future, 26 years after her last appearance in the series. She provided the voice of Jennifer Parker for Back to the Future: The Game by Telltale Games. Wells announced that her next project would be a horror film titled Room & Board.