Lezlie Dean skates and jams for Dallas Derby Devil
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| BOUT TIME: Lezlie Dean of The Slaughterers faces off against The Wrecking Crew at the |
A few months ago, Lezlie Dean flipped on the TV and caught a few episodes of “Rollergirls.” Filmed in Austin, the A&E reality show follows teammates from the women’s roller-derby league, and that made her jealous and a little angry. If anyone wearing rock “‘n’ roller skates was going to be on TV, it should be Dean.
Growing up in Hurst, Dean slapped on her first pair of roller skates when she was 10. By the time she was 16, she won a national roller-skating championship for speed skating at a competition held at Will Rodgers Coliseum in Fort Worth. By the time she was 18, she defended the title for three years.
After she graduated from LD Bell High School, Dean tried out and became a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader. And then it was onto Hollywood: Dean was cast in the last season of “Dynasty,” playing Phoenix Chisholm, Alexis’ gardener’s daughter who tried to bump off Blake Carrington. She also landed a role in “Freddie’s Dead: The Final Nightmare.” With a knife and a pipe bomb, Dean was responsible for killing the night-terrorist.
From acting she migrated to rock music fronting Fem 2 Fem, a pioneering all-female, all-out-lesbian rock band. From 1993-1997, Dean toured with acts like Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson. But when her mother had to battle a life-threatening illness, Dean dropped the glitzy path to stardom and immediately rushed back to North Texas. So yeah, A&E’s “Rollergirls” kind of ticked her off.
Instead of pouting, she made some calls and tried out for the Dallas Derby Devils league, which was gearing up for its second season. She goes by the nickname Cherry Cherry Bang Bang, a jammer (the skater who scores points for passing another team’s jammer) and blocker for The Slaughterers. All her teammates wear pink, blood-splattered butcher’s uniforms.
“Our team motto is “‘Jam, Block, Kill, Chop!'” Dean laughs.
She says roller derby is a full-contact sport. Skaters have to be fast. They have to have endurance and stamina. Derby isn’t for girly-girls.
“In roller derby, these women have to be tough tomboys to get through a bout,” Dean says.
At their first bout, Dean scored 10 points, and her team won. On Sunday, she skates in The Slaughterers’ second bout against The Wrecking Crew.
Arlington Skatium, 5515 S. Cooper Street. Arlington. April 2. Doors at 7 p.m., bout at 9 p.m. $10 advance. $12 day of. www.dallasderbydevils.com
DALLAS RAGE KICKS OFF PRE-SEASON
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On Sunday, the Dallas Rage, an expansion team of the National woman’s Football Association, holds a pre-season game. The Rage, whom lesbian defensive lineman Twyla D Smith, pictured, plays for, will face off against the Orange Co. Breakers.
Pennington Field, 1501 S. Central Drive, Bedford, Texas. April 2 at 2 p.m. $10. www.dal
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition, March 31, 2006.
