The video in question is Got My Mind Set On You by George Harrison. The guy will be familiar to Angel fans, Alexis Denisof in his first role, uncredited. I’d always thought the woman was Linda Purl, but she seems to have had some solid tv roles already and she is not credited in the video. Any guesses?
Googling shows not a lot of information on who it might be. I’ve found a couple of sites (like this one) on which someone has suggested that it’s Julie McCullough, an actress who had a recurring role on Growing Pains a couple of years later, and then was a Playboy model.
Looking at some pictures of her from the 1980s, I’d say it’s possible, but I’m not certain.
She says no….
Nice find! So, she’s still a mystery girl (no, wait, that was a Roy Orbison album 
).
It’s interesting that at a time when every extra seems to be going out of their way to make sure their name (uncredited) is on IMDb, someone with a feature role like that hasn’t gone back to do it.
This is going to be a hard one to solve. The director does have a Twitter account, but it’s been inactive for more than five years.
Here’s a total longshot, but on the theory that music video producers at the time liked using playboy models in their videos, I had a look at the playboy models from 1986-1987 who might look like her (the things I do for research…)
I came up with Lisa Matthews, who was an aspiring actress at the time who was 18 and had moved to LA:
It’s probably not her, but it’s a pretty close match. She actually wasn’t in Playboy until 1990. But she was an actress looking for work in LA in 1987. I found nothing about her being in the video, though.
I would have recognized her instantly. She was one of my favorite Playmates. The Twitter post is from 2 years ago, so other people have thought it was her also.
I never saw the Growing Pains show, but I remember reading that Kirk Cameron didn’t want to marry her on the show because he was offended by her nude photos because he’s a super Christian type.
She was on the Drew Carey Show the first year as one of his redneck neighbors.
Someone had to do the tough research, thanks for taking one for the team. I don’t think it’s her tho.
Recalling the years of work that went into the Steppin’ Out video thread, I wonder if people back then didn’t think videos would be viewed much in the future. There’s precious little information on most of them.
In this case, it may also be a question of whether the video was filmed in the U.S. or in England (and, thus, from where they were sourcing the actors for it).
Alexis Denisof is an American, but according to his Wikipedia article, he moved to London at age 17 (ca. 1983), where he attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and then did stage work and work for the BBC.
The videos* for “Got My Mind Set On You” were likely filmed in the summer or early fall of 1987, as the song was released as a single in October of that year. That timing would seem to line up with Denisof either still being in school at LAMDA, or having recently graduated, and could suggest that it was filmed in the London area.
*- There were two official videos made for the song; the one in question here is referred to as “Version 1,” while “Version 2” (which seems to be the one which was shown more often in the U.S.) was completely different, and features only Harrison.
Come on, people! I know if we put our minds to it, I know that we really can do it.
It’s gonna take a whole lot of precious time though
Wow. That video stirs up 35 year old feelings.
A Google search shows some people suspect she is Erika Eleniak or Amy Stock-Poynton.
That does not look like Erika Eleniak to me. It looks dead on like Julie McCullough though, if its not her I don’t know who it could be. Since we know who the guy is maybe he could answer.
From “Growing pains” to Playboy model…every girls dream…lol
It’s not Eleniak, I’m sure of that. Stock-Poynton I never heard of, but she seems to have had a pretty fair tv resume at that point. Not sure if she would have been open to doing a video at that point. She could have been attracted by the Harrison name I suppose.
I see someone, maybe from here, asked him this question on his rarely used Twitter account. I’d ask also, but I don’t have an account. Maybe a couple of you with accounts could ask also?
Who played the ballerina?
No idea.
The director, Gary Weis, seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. No social media that I can see.
There seem to be conflicting data sources on who directed that video. It looks pretty clear that Gary Weis directed Version 2 (the one in Harrison’s drawing room), but while Wikipedia says that Weis also directed Version 1 (the version with the girl), IMDB credits it to a guy who goes by “Willy Smax,” who also directed the Traveling Wilburys’ video for “End of the Line.”