Former Riverdalian killed by 'Melrose Place' actress

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By Adam Wisnieski

Helene Zucker Seeman, a longtime Riverdale resident, was killed in a car crash in Montgomery, N.J. on June 27. She was 60 years old.

Late last month, Ms. Zucker Seeman and her husband, Fred Seeman, were hit by a 2007 Chevy Tahoe driven by actress Amy Locane-Bovenizer, according to Montgomery police.

The car struck the passenger side where Ms. Zucker Seeman was sitting. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Mr. Seeman was transported in a Medevac helicopter to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick with serious injuries, police said. He is currently at home and taking medication, according to Marcia Zucker, Ms. Seeman Zucker’s mother.

Ms. Locane-Bovenizer, known for her role as the bartender on the television drama Melrose Place, was charged with drunk driving, vehicular homicide, second- and third-degree assault by auto, police said.

Ms. Zucker Seeman was born in Riverdale in 1950 and her birth announcement and baby picture were printed in an edition of The Riverdale Press. She attended PS 24, JHS 141 and The Bronx High School of Science before attending Boston University.

She was a distinguished art historian in New York, working as the director of the Art Acquisition Program for the Prudential Life Insurance Company. She also worked as an adjunct professor at New York University’s school of continuing education.

“She was just an enthusiastic and bright person. She was always smiling, always smiling,” said her mother, a Riverdale resident.

Her career in the arts began at the Louis K. Meisel Gallery in Manhattan. In 1978, she co-authored Soho: A Guide, the first book to document the changing Manhattan neighborhood. In 1979, she co-authored Photorealism with Louis Meisel.

Ms. Zucker Seeman was living in Battery Park City at the time of the attacks on the World Trade Center. According to her mother, she was active in the relief effort and did all she could to help clean up her neighborhood.

“She was just such a shining example of what a person could be,” Ms. Zucker said.

Ms. Zucker Seeman is survived by her husband, Fred; sons, Ford Seeman, 23, and Curtis Seeman, 17; as well as her mother, Marcia Zucker. She was predeceased by her father, Benjamin Zucker.

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