Can YOU guess who this actress is – 40 YEARS after she rose to fame when she shared the screen with Tom Cruise in his iconic breakout role?

It’s been 40 years since this actress rose to fame sharing the screen with a then little-known Tom Cruise as he rose to fame in his breakout role.

The now 73-year-old was thrust into the limelight after playing the role of a prostitute in one of Tom’s hit films.

The blockbuster saw a Chicago teen looking to have fun at home while his parents were away – but the situation quickly spiraled out of control.

So, 40 years after the blockbuster came out, can you guess who it is?

In case you haven’t put it together yet, the actress is Shera Danese who shot to fame alongside Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay in Risky Business.

In the movie, Lana, De Mornay’s character, gets intimate with Joel, Cruise’s high school character.

And after the meeting, she invites Vicki, played by Danese, to stay at her place while his parents are out of town.

The trio get high together and after Lana wrecks Joel’s parents’ Porsche, she recruits Vicki and her other friends to turn the house into a brothel to raise money for the repairs.

After the success of Risky Business, Danese continued her career as a Hollywood actress with her most notable performances in Baby Boom (1987), John Q (2002) and Alpha Dog (2006).

In addition to her professional success, she was married to actor Peter Falk.

The two were married for 34 years before he passed away from Alzheimer’s disease in 2011.

Danese met the actor while making the 1976 film Mikey & Nicky in her hometown of Pennsylvania.

“He saw me walking down the street and that was it,” Danese previously told The LA Times.

In his 2017 biography Beyond Columbo, authors Richard A. Lertzman and William J. Brines wrote that she initially declined his offer, but eventually gave in and grabbed a cocktail with him.

At the time, he was married to his first wife, Alyce Mayo. The book states that he had been unfaithful for a while, but his behind-the-scenes meeting with Danese seemed to be the final straw.

The couple divorced in 1976 and that same year he brought Danese to Hollywood where she made her first appearance on his show Columbo – even though she knew little about acting at the time.

“As soon as I came out here in the mid ’70s, I did a Columbo,” Danese said during her LA Times interview. ‘I was stupid then. I was just checking my lip gloss.”

Her main goal was actually to become a singer ‘but when I got out of here I started acting. Singing seemed harder to get into.’

After she tied the knot in 1977 with Falk – who was 22 years her senior – she appeared again on Columbo.

“I was a mess. I didn’t know how to behave as a person. I didn’t want to act like his wife,” she said of her second appearance on the show.

She was set to work with her husband again in Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star (1991), but he had some stipulations about her performance in the film.

“I wanted to play the rock star in this one, but he wouldn’t let me because she’s in bed with a young dude,” Danese explained.

“But I sing her songs. How’s that for a twist? She does the sex scenes and I sing.’

Outside of their on-screen appearances, their relationship was reportedly rocky.

“They were known throughout Hollywood as the Fighting Falks, always arguing, breaking up, then reconciling,” wrote Beyond Columbo author Lertzman, who claimed that Falk was not faithful throughout their relationship.

“They would have stand-up rows in public.”

But through thick and thin they stood side by side.

When Falk was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2008, Danese slowed down her acting career – she only made a cameo on the show Cold Case in 2010.

At the time, his doctor claimed he “slide rapidly into dementia after a series of dental surgeries.”

During that period, the two lived in his $5 million Beverly Hills estate.

His daughter, Catherine Falk, applied to her father’s conservatory in 2008.

From The protectorCourt documents from the time stated that Falk required “full-time custody for his health and safety” and was no longer able to protect himself from “fraud or undue influence.”

His daughter also claimed that her father “couldn’t recognize his physical needs or communicate those needs to others who could meet them.”

In addition to the court documents, Catherine alleged through her attorney, Steven Hogan, that Danese had “cruelly” prevented her “and others” from visiting Peter since Father’s Day in June.

“He has Alzheimer’s disease which has gotten significantly worse. She wants to make sure he gets the care he needs,” Hogan said at the time.

After a hip operation in 2010, it deteriorated even further and he eventually died in June 2011.

“He died very peacefully with his wife by his side,” a source told Radar at the time.

“Peter left most of his estate to Shera,” a source told the showbiz website.

“The house they lived in together, artwork, investment accounts and more have been left to Shera.”

Citing the drama between her and her step-daughter Catherine, the source revealed that Catherine was quickly banned from conservatory at the time, as she felt Danese was a reliable caretaker.

“Peter’s daughter Catherine had a very tense relationship with her stepmother, Shera, for years and tried to get conservatory from Peter several years ago,” the source added.

“The judge flatly denied that request because Shera had proven conclusively that she took excellent care of her husband at home.”

Since Falk’s passing, Danese has led a fulfilling life.

She was honored with the Albert Schweitzer Award at the Last Chance for Animals Gala in 2015.

In a video prerecorded for the gala, Danese revealed that she has devoted her life to helping rescue dogs.

“It’s very satisfying to take an animal that no one else wants to give a chance,” she said in the video as she played with her five dogs.

“You know animal people are crazy, don’t you?” She joked in the video. “I took home everything that was on the street.”

Her most recent red carpet appearance was at the 2022 Real Housewives of Beverly Hills premiere, where she was pictured alongside Kathy Hilton.