Yes, the legend is true. Betsy Baker ("Linda") first met Sam, Rob, and Bruce in a Detroit-area restaurant, after they contacted her agent. It was her choice, because she figured that if they turned out to be disreputable characters, she could always make a scene and get them thrown out before they could kidnap her for evil purposes.

Little did she know that the reality would be worse... much worse!

From the straw wrappers the boys blew at each other in the restaurant during the interview (she later referred to them as "the Three Stooges of Detroit filmdom") to the wooden beams that were used to beat her over the head during filming, it was one hilarious moment after another. Except for the freezing to death, the painful opaque contact lenses, and the awful food, of course. But that's showbiz, right?

"Oh, sure" says Betsy jokingly, when asked if she remembers putting the excrutiatingly painful contact lenses in her eyes night after night during the shooting. "For loads of fun, I often insert porcelain coffee cup saucers under my eyelids on Halloween for the neighborhood kids. We all get a big kick out of it."

It's a wonder she decided to continue with her career in entertainment, but she did. Before the film was even a gleam in Sam's eye, Betsy had graduated with a combined degree in theater and classical voice from Michigan State University and embarked upon headline engagements throughout the South, including The Eden Roc in Miami Beach and other venues, with a group called Musicana.

Betsy eventually found herself in Detroit, where she honed her craft in television, radio voice-overs, industrial films, public speaking appearances, and films nationwide. She was a familiar face in many television commercials, including Sears, Big Boy, Toyota, Dramamine, Bank of America, Bell Telephone, and Re-Max Realty. She continued speaking in front of the camera or live audiences, performing across the U.S. in auto shows for Ford, Buick, Honda, and Toyota, while at the same time lending her classical voice to the Detroit Opera Company and her jazzy style to a combo that performed all around Detroit for several years. If that sounds busy, it's normal for a working actress and singer!

Before moving permanently to Los Angeles, she appeared in Word of Honor, directed by Mel Damski and starring John Malcovich, Karl Malden, and Rue McClanahan; Appearances, a 1990 PBS-TV film written by Elmore Leonard; and Six Weeks, with Mary Tyler Moore and Dudley Moore.

Her acting and singing abilities brought her to the Equity stage, with long-running performances as Marion Paroo in The Music Man and Mother in A Woman Got it Done. She toured with Kaye Ballard and Eddie Bracken in Barbary Coast. She appeared in Days of Our Lives and has done numerous voice-overs and looping sessions in Los Angeles.

For the last 20 years, Betsy has owned and managed a successful motor home rental business for television commercials and has taught vocal music at local elementary schools. She and her husband Rob are also busy raising 2 teenagers.

Betsy says she's thrilled that ED is tantalizing a new generation. Very few actors, she says, "can claim they have worked on a film of such a genre and such popularity, and to think that it was formulated not only by 19- and 20-year-olds, but usually on a daily and ever-changing basis while on the set! However scary and edgy it may seem, most of the scenes were done with humor and laughs behind the camera from the very first days of filming."

It is true, says Betsy, that she lost all her eyelashes when they peeled the plaster off her face while making the masks prior to filming, and to this day Karo syrup is not allowed in her kitchen, but on the other hand, there are only a handful of actresses who "have had the thrill of kissing Ash", and she was one of the first!

Most recently, Betsy has completed 3 new films, all due out in early '07, including Cat's Meow, about a neighborly relationshp that goes terribly awry, Plus or Minus..., a young adult life-changing scenario, and Witches Night with Haymoon Productions, shot in Wisconsin, which will make you seriously think twice about taking a weekend camping trip with your pals anytime soon. In December '06, Betsy starred as Nanny Olga on stage in Red Chief at The Promenade Playhouse in Santa Monica, CA - a funny adaptation of O'Henry's short story, and performed her one-woman singing cabaret act at the The Gardenia Supper Club in Hollywood.

For even more information and updates, including Betsy's horrific "recipe of the month", visit Betsy's website at Betsy Baker.net.