1984: 'The Theresa Saldana Story' Airs on NBC
On this day in 1984, actress Theresa Saldana played herself in the gut-wretching NBC telefilm, Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story. Two years earlier, Saldana — perhaps best-known for playing Rachel Scali, wife of Michael Chiklis' Tony Scali on ABC's The Commish — barely survived a knife attack by a obsessed fan.
Saldana's stalker first saw the actress in the 1980 film, Defiance, and used a private detective to obtain information that led him to her West Hollywood home. He stabbed her ten times, in broad daylight, with onlookers watching. A lone man, Jeff Fenn, who was making a delivery nearby, rushed to the scene to subdue the attacker.
Following her recovery, Saldana became an advocate for stalking victims, lobbying for federal protections and privacy safeguards.