December 24, 2024, 4:32 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
On April 6, 1984, the very first film adaptation of Michael Ende’s “The Neverending Story” premiered in Germany – 40 years ago. Tami Stronach is unforgotten in the role of the Childlike Empress, who quickly became known to an audience of millions. However, her career beyond being a child star failed to materialize – and that was exactly what she wanted. STYLEBOOK knows the background.
The little girl from back then is 52 years old today. The girl whose innocent, help-seeking gaze haunted countless children into their deepest dreams. Tami Stronach was just twelve years old when she slipped into the role of the Childlike Empress. Just five years earlier, in 1979, her family had fled from Tehran to the USA to escape the Islamic Revolution and build a new life there.
Life Outside the Spotlight Desired
The fame was enormous, with the youth magazine Bravo devoting countless stories to Tami Stronach in the 1980s. She was nominated for the “Young Artist Award,” and the signs were good for a promising career on the big screen. But things turned out differently: Stronach’s parents thought little of acting in adolescence and wanted to spare their daughter the fate of a child star who had burned out in the limelight far too early.
Tami Stronach Wants to Make a Difference
Nevertheless, Tami couldn’t quite give up on life in the public eye. None other than Ralph Siegel took her under his wing for a short time and produced the single “Fairy Queen” with her in 1984 – still in the glow of her film success. “The ‘Childlike Empress’ becomes a pop star,” wrote Bravo promptly. But that was as far as it went, and the actress with a Scottish father and Israeli mother subsequently went quiet.
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What the Childlike Empress, Tami Stronach, Does Today
And today? In 2000, Stronach founded the dance studio “Tami Stronach Dance” in New York, where she acts as artistic director. Stronach, mother of a daughter, develops projects and works as a speaker and creative educator. She formulates her motivation on her homepage as follows: “To encourage others to develop their creativity, to realize their own ideas, and to create a community full of empathy through art.”
In the past, she has repeatedly performed together with “Atreyu” actor Noah Hathaway. The cult of The Neverending Story is unforgotten, and Stronach seems to have made absolute peace with her role.
Her style is also rather unpretentious and – like Tami herself – doesn’t scream for attention. On her private Instagram account, she shows her 92,000 fans (as of December 18, 2024) that she likes jeans and T-shirts in her free time and loves the outdoors. She is also a fan of boho style: batik dresses, men’s hats, and rough boots definitely belong in Stronach’s closet.