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Kymberly Ellen Herrin (October 2, 1957 - October 28, 2022) was an American model and actress of mixed French, Swedish, and Filipino descent.1 She is best known in the Ghostbusters community for portraying the Dream Ghost in Ghostbusters (1984),2 appearing opposite Dan Aykroyd's Ray Stantz in a memorable dream sequence. Over the course of the 1980s she built a career as a print model and appeared in several films, television productions, and music videos.1
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Herrin was born on October 2, 1957, in Santa Barbara County, California, where she would remain a lifelong resident.1 Of mixed French, Swedish, and Filipino heritage, she attended Santa Barbara Senior High School, graduating in 1975.1 She later studied at Santa Barbara City College from 1991 to 1994.
Herrin established herself as a prominent print model in the early 1980s. She was selected as Playboy's Playmate of the Month for March 1981, with photography by Arny Freytag.1 She went on to appear on the covers of both the September 1982 and September 1983 issues of the magazine,1 and was featured in several Playboy special editions and video productions. Alongside her Playboy work, she modeled for Ralph Lauren, FIT magazine, and appeared in fitness and swimwear advertising.1
Her screen career ran roughly from 1981 to 1990. She appeared alongside Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone (1984), playing a character named Angelina,1 and had a role in Moving Violations (1985).1 She appeared in Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)1 and in Road House (1989).1 On television, she made guest appearances on Matt Houston and St. Elsewhere.1
Herrin appeared in ZZ Top's "Legs" (1983), one of the band's most celebrated MTV-era videos, as well as in "Sleeping Bag" (1985).3 She also appeared in the Kiss long-form video Exposed (1987).4
Herrin portrayed the Dream Ghost, a luminous apparition who visits Ray Stantz in a dream sequence during Ghostbusters (1984).2 In the scene, a wind-blown figure in a billowing gossamer gown hovers over Ray and begins unfastening his belt buckle before a cut ends the encounter, leaving the moment ambiguous as dream.2
The character was originally written as a more substantial role. In the Fort Detmerring sequence, a section of the film that was ultimately cut, the Dream Ghost was conceived as Ray's supernatural love interest.5 Harold Ramis described the intention in Making Ghostbusters as wanting to "give Dan a love interest, a woman who's been dead for a hundred years." Ramis noted the sequence was removed because "the scene was too long and it was in the wrong place in the film."5 Dan Aykroyd has noted that the premise drew on documented paranormal accounts of ghosts engaging in sexual activity with people, material that time constraints prevented from making the final two-hour cut.
Filming took place at Entertainment Effects Group (also known as Boss Film Studios).5 Because the gossamer gown fit tightly, Herrin was fitted for a body mold, requiring the crew to apply Vaseline over her body. When the process proceeded too slowly, she took matters into her own hands: she grabbed a crewmember and guided his hand directly, saying "Let's get on with this!" Crew member Sam Longoria was assigned to feed her peanuts one by one between takes during effects photography.
Her wind-blown image was captured against a bright backing, then optically composited into the live-action Fort Detmerring material, producing the floating, otherworldly effect seen in the finished film.5
Kymberly Herrin died on October 28, 2022, in Santa Barbara, California, following a battle with breast cancer.6 She was 65 years old. Her family's obituary asked that donations in her memory be directed to the American Cancer Society toward breast cancer research.6 She was survived by her mother Billie Dodson, her brother Mark Herrin, nieces Theresa Ramirez and Stephanie Ross, and nephews Brandon Herrin and Trevor Triegor.6
Some content on this page was researched using the Ghostbusters Wiki on Fandom.
"Kymberly Herrin," Wikipedia, accessed 2026-06-13, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kymberly_Herrin ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12
Deadline, "Kymberly Herrin Dies: 'Ghostbusters' Actress Who Starred In ZZ Top's 'Legs' Video Dead At 65" (November 16, 2022), https://deadline.com/2022/11/kymberly-herrin-dead-ghostbusters-zz-top-legs-video-1235174517/ ↩
Bravewords, "Playboy Model / Actress KYMBERLY HERRIN Dead At 65; Appeared In ZZ TOP, DAVID LEE ROTH, KISS Videos" (November 16, 2022), https://bravewords.com/news/playboy-model-actress-kymberly-herrin-dead-at-65-appeared-in-zz-top-david-lee-roth-kiss-videos/ ↩
Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA. ISBN 0918432685. Harold Ramis: "The idea behind the scene was to give Dan a love interest -- a woman who's been dead for a hundred years. But the scene was too long and it was in the wrong place in the film." ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
Ghostbusters News, "Kymberly Herrin, who played Ghostbusters' seductive Dream Ghost, passes away at 65" (November 16, 2022), https://ghostbustersnews.com/2022/11/16/kymberly-herrin-who-played-ghostbusters-seductive-dream-ghost-passes-away-at-65/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3
