R.I.P. Kymberly Herrin, Ghostbuster's "Dream Ghost" and ZZ Top vixen
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Kymberly Herrin, the actor who starred as the sensual “Dream Ghost” in 1984's Ghostbusters, has died at the age of 65. Herrin passed away peacefully in her sleep, according to her niece, per Consequence.
Herrin is likely best remembered for her onscreen roles as fleeting femme fatales, whether the ethereal ghost who gracefully seduces Dan Aykroyd in Ghostbusters or the latex-clad video vixen who dominates ZZ Top’s “Legs” music video. Also a former Playboy Playmate, Herrin won “Playmate Of The Month” in March 1981.
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Recalling the “Dream Ghost” scene in a 2013 conversation with Polygon, Aykroyd shared he remembered Herrin well and wished production had “let that scene go a little longer.” As Herrin herself told Noblemania in 2013, she and Aykroyd had partied together on both coasts, leaving her with “great memories” of being shown around New York.
In her eyes, Herrin’s work for ZZ Top, which led to her work with Playboy, got her even more recognition than Ghostbusters. She also nabbed roles throughout her career in Road House, Romancing The Stone, and Beverly Hills Cop II.
ZZ Top - Legs (Official Music Video)
“Once in Australia, a young boy, knowing I was an American model, flipped when he recognized me,” she recalled in the interview. “He said that ZZ Top just won MTV’s Best Group Video [1984]. The Aussies treated me like an American movie star. I was blown away.”
After “Legs,” Herrin also went on to star in another ZZ Top video, “Sleeping Bag,” and David Lee Roth’s “California Girls” clip. She also worked with KISS for the band’s long-form video Exposed— Herrin praised “one of a kind” frontman Billy Gibbons for having a “certain sweet, rare charm.”
“Billy Gibbons was my favorite [member of ZZ Top],” she shared. “We became good friends later. He gave me the video on tape.”
An obituary for Herrin, a native Californian, in The Santa Barbara News-Press further elucidates some of the less-public aspects of her life, including a deep love for sailing and travel. For several years of her life, Herrin reportedly lived aboard a 75-foot yacht, which allowed her to travel along the California Coast, through the Panama Canal, in the Sea of Cortez, in Baja, and into the Caribbean.
Although her cause of death was not revealed, The News-Press urged those hoping to honor Herrin’s memory to donate to the American Cancer Society to “further the research of the prevention and treatment of breast cancer.” Herrin is survived by her mother, brother, as well as multiple nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.
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