Dee Wallace Stone Dee Wallace-Stone (born Deanna Bowers on December 14, 1949, in Kansas City, Missouri) is an U.S. motion picture and television actress who is best remembered for her role as Elliot's divorced mother in the Steven Spielberg film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and as Karen White in The Howling (1981). In total, she has appeared in more than 85 films, among them The Stepford Wives in 1975 and 10 in 1979. She married fellow actor Christopher Stone in 1980, with whom she had one daughter, Gabrielle.
She graduated from the University of Kansas with an education degree.
Stone's father was an abusive alcoholic who later committed suicide. She has often spoken out at seminars on alcoholism and child abuse. She said she turned to dancing and acting to escape these painful memories.
Wallace Stone appeared in the television series Together We Stand (1986 - 1987) and the syndicated The New Lassie (1989 - 1992). In the latter series, she appeared with her husband Christopher Stone, with whom she also co-starred in Cujo (1983).
Although she has proven herself a fine actress in any role, Wallace Stone is best known for her horror film roles. She has appeared at many horror film conventions and has a reputation for being very kind and generous with her many admirers and fans. She has also opened an acting studio to mentor young actors.
Personal tragedy struck the actress, when her husband died suddenly in 1995 of a heart attack while filming The Frighteners in New Zealand. Which can be viewed as ironic when looking at the plot of The Frighteners, which tells the story of a group of bizarre, inexplicable deaths, all presumably connected to a series of unfortunate heart attacks (see article on the The Frighteners for more plot details).
