Theresa Saldana, 61, Raging Bull actress who went on to become a crime victim’s advocate

Theresa Saldana, the Raging Bull actress who survived a stalker’s attack to become a crime victim’s advocate and reclaimed her entertainment career in TV, has died. She was 61.

Saldana had been suffering from pneumonia and died on Monday.

Her most notable big-screen role was opposite Joe Pesci in Raging Bull, Martin Scorsese’s 1980 film starring Robert De Niro.

In 1982, Saldana was repeatedly stabbed by an obsessed man in front of her West Hollywood apartment. Scottish drifter Arthur Jackson served more than a decade in prison for the crime.

Saldana, who endured a prolonged stay in hospital, was both physically and mentally scarred and received treatment for both problems.

She went on to found a support and lobbying group, Victims for Victims, and played herself in the 1984 TV movie Victims For Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story.

She and actor Phil Peters, married in 1989 and had a daughter, Tianna.

Her first film appearances came in 1978 with I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Nunzio. Other movie credits included Defiance, The Evil That Men Do and Gang Warz.

Her TV credits included TJ Hooker and in the 1980s, Diagnosis Murder in the 1990s and The Bernie Mac Show in 2003.

Theresa Saldana has died at the age of 61.