{{Short description|American actress (born 1958)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2025}} {{For|the ''Guiding Light'' character|Michelle Bauer Santos}} {{Infobox person | name = Michelle Bauer | image = Michelle Bauer adjusted.jpg | caption = Bauer at GlamourCon | birth_name = Unknown | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1958|10|1}} | birth_place = Montebello, California, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | other_names = {{Unbulleted list|Kim Bittner|Michelle McClellan|Pia Snow}} | occupation = {{Cslist|Actress|model}} | years_active = 1981–present | height_ft = 5 | height_in = 7 | website = | signature = }} '''Michelle Bauer''' (born October 1, 1958), also credited as '''Pia Snow''', '''Kim Bittner''', and '''Michelle McClellan''', is an American actress, model, and B-movie scream queen.

==Early life== Michelle Bauer was born on October 1, 1958,<ref>{{cite web |last=Albaugh |first=David |date=April 11, 2023 |title=Michelle Bauer: The Queen of Horror and Advocate for Animal Welfare |url=https://basementofthebizarre.com/2023/04/11/michelle-bauer-the-queen-of-horror-and-advocate-for-animal-welfare/ |website=David's Basement of the Bizarre |access-date=May 7, 2026}}</ref> in Montebello and grew up in Simi Valley, California.<ref name="Shepard">{{cite book |last=Shepard |first=Jewel |author-link=Jewel Shepard |year=1992 |chapter=Michelle Bauer |title=Invasion of the B-Girls |location=Forestville, California |publisher=Eclipse Books |pages=6–13 |isbn=1-56060-158-2}}</ref> Her mother was a preschool teacher and her father was a condominium manager. After her parents' divorce, she stayed with her mother.<ref name="Shepard" />

She was not born Bauer; it is her married name.<ref name="Szebin" />

==Career== Bauer was ''Penthouse'' magazine's "Pet of the Month" for July 1981<ref name="Sagliani" /> and also appeared in many other adult magazines during the early to mid-1980s, under a number of different names.{{cn|date=November 2025}}

Bauer starred in the pornographic film ''Café Flesh'' (1982) under the name of Pia Snow.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Jones (author) |year=2000 |title=The Essential Monster Movie Guide: A Century of Creature Features on Film, TV and Video |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TGhZAAAAMAAJ&q=Pia+Snow |location=New York |publisher=Billboard Books |pages=69, 81 |isbn=978-0-8230-7936-0 |access-date=March 20, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Jones |first=Alan |author-link=Alan Jones (film critic) |title=Cafe Flesh film review |url=http://www.radiotimes.com/servlet_film/com.icl.beeb.rtfilms.client.simpleSearchServlet?frn=33487&searchTypeSelect=5 |magazine=Radio Times |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312060632/http://www.radiotimes.com/servlet_film/com.icl.beeb.rtfilms.client.simpleSearchServlet?frn=33487&searchTypeSelect=5 |archive-date=2009-03-12 |access-date=2007-09-25}}</ref> She states that she was happy to appear in the film and on the covers of other films with an X rating, but insisted on a double for the sex scenes. Bauer appeared in several other pornographic titles under her Pia Snow moniker, including ''Bad Girls'' (1981), ''Nightdreams'' (1981), and others.{{cn|date=November 2025}}

Bauer's ''Penthouse'' centerfold appearance led to acting for the Playboy Channel and a film try-out for director Fred Olen Ray. Ray liked her audition, and offered her the part if she would be willing to dye her hair black. Her first B movie was ''The Tomb'' (1986),<ref name="Sagliani">{{cite magazine |last=Sagliani |first=Devan |date=August 25, 2014 |title=The Scream Queens: 4 Actresses Who Defined A Horror Genre |url=https://www.escapistmagazine.com/the-scream-queens-4-actresses-who-defined-a-horror-genre/ |magazine=The Escapist |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203002215/https://www.escapistmagazine.com/the-scream-queens-4-actresses-who-defined-a-horror-genre/ |archive-date=December 3, 2022 |access-date=July 3, 2022}}</ref> it would be the first of many. Along with Linnea Quigley and Brinke Stevens, Bauer became one of the most prominent B-movie scream queens in the late 1980s.<ref>{{cite news |last=Washington |first=Julie E. |date=March 31, 2000 |title=I Scream You Scream We All Scream for Scream Queens |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=NewsBank&req_dat=106C22409D8C9029&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F0F80DB23E2E17B4D |newspaper=The Plain Dealer |access-date=March 20, 2019 |via=NewsBank}}{{dead link|date=May 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Butler |first=Robert W. |date=August 12, 2004 |title=She reigns as scream queen of B movies |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2004-08-12-0408120058-story.html |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |agency=Knight Ridder/Tribune News |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929114951/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2004-08-12-0408120058-story.html |archive-date=September 29, 2018 |access-date=March 20, 2019}}</ref><ref name="Sagliani" /> In addition to multiple films for Ray, she has worked with cult directors David DeCoteau, Jesús Franco and Zalman King and shared the screen with genre stars such as Sybil Danning, Monique Gabrielle, Julie Strain, Lina Romay, George Kennedy, David Carradine, Gunnar Hansen, Paul Naschy and Erik Estrada.

Her career is one of the main subjects of the 2011 documentary ''Screaming in High Heels: The Rise and Fall of the Scream Queen Era'' by director Jason Paul Collum.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hallam |first=Scott |date=September 15, 2011 |title=It's Ladies Night in New Anthology Film 'Shy of Normal' and Documentary 'Screaming in High Heels' |url=http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/27002/it-s-ladies-night-in-new-anthology-film-shy-of-normal-and-documentary-screaming-in-high-heels/ |website=Dread Central |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170802003959/http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/27002/it-s-ladies-night-in-new-anthology-film-shy-of-normal-and-documentary-screaming-in-high-heels/ |archive-date=August 2, 2017 |access-date=May 7, 2026}}</ref> She returned for the 2020 follow-up short ''Screaming in High Heels: The Reunion'' which again reunited her with Quigley and Stevens.<ref>{{cite web |title=Screaming in High Heels: The Reunion (2020) |url=https://mubi.com/en/us/films/screaming-in-high-heels-the-reunion |publisher=Mubi |access-date=May 7, 2026}}</ref>

==Personal life== Bauer retained her married name as a screen name. After she and her husband divorced, he filed a lawsuit requesting she not use it for her films. She tried appearing as Michelle McClellan, using the name of her second husband, in ''Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers'' (1988), but the press resisted, so she returned to Bauer, which the first husband eventually accepted.<ref name="Szebin">{{cite magazine |last1=Szebin |first1=Frederick C. |last2=Carson |first2=Catherine |date=Fall 1995 |title=Michelle Bauer|url=http://picpal.com/mbauerff.html |magazine=Femme Fatales |volume=4 |issue=2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020307141940/http://picpal.com/mbauerff.html |archive-date=2002-03-07 |access-date=2007-09-30 |via=PicPal}}</ref> The McClellans have a daughter.<ref name="Shepard" />

==Selected filmography== {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * 1981 ''Bad Girls'' as Angie (credited as Pia Snow) * 1981 ''Nightdreams'' as Chained Girl (uncredited) * 1982 ''Café Flesh'' as Lana (credited as Pia Snow) * 1982 ''Homework'' as Dream Groupie (uncredited) * 1984 ''Special Request'' as Jan (credited as Kim Bittner) * 1985 ''Terror on Tape'' as Third Customer * 1985 ''Tied & Tickled'' as Janet (credited as Pia Snow) * 1985 ''Tomboy'' as Woman In Corvette (uncredited) * 1985 ''Cavegirl'' as Locker Room Student * 1986 ''Beverly Hills Girls'' as Michelle Scott * 1986 ''Reform School Girls'' as Shower Girl (uncredited) * 1986 ''The Tomb'' as Nefratis * 1987 ''Lust for Freedom'' as Jackie * 1987 ''Night of the Living Babes'' as Sue (credited as Michelle McClellan) * 1988 ''Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers'' as Mercedes (credited as Michelle McLellan) * 1988 ''Demonwarp'' as Betsy * 1988 ''Nightmare Sisters'' as Mickey (credited as Michelle McClellan) * 1988 ''Death Row Diner'' as Julia Wilcox-Weston * 1988 ''Lady Avenger'' as Annalee (credited as Michelle McClellan) * 1988 ''Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama'' as Lisa (credited as Michelle McClellan) * 1989 ''Terror Night'' as Jo * 1989 ''Beverly Hills Vamp'' as Kristina * 1989 ''Dr. Alien'' as Coed #1 * 1989 ''Assault of the Party Nerds'' as Muffin (credited as Michelle McClellan) * 1989 ''The Phantom Empire'' as Cave Bunny * 1989 ''The Jigsaw Murders'' as Cindy Jakulski * 1991 ''Virgin High'' as Miss Bush * 1991 ''Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge'' as Lili * 1991 ''Camp Fear'' as Dorm Girl * 1992 ''Evil Toons'' as Mrs. Burt * 1993 ''Naked Instinct'' as Michelle * 1994 ''Dinosaur Island'' as June * 1995 ''Red Lips'' as Lisa * 1995 ''Bikini Drive-In'' as Dyanne Lynn * 1995 ''Vampire Vixens from Venus'' as Shampay * 1995 ''Assault of the Party Nerds Part 2: Heavy Petting Detective'' as Muffin * 1995 ''Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold'' as Dr. Joyce Mann * 1995 ''Witch Academy'' as Tara * 1998 ''Mari-Cookie and the Killer Tarantula in 8 Legs to Love You'' as Sheriff Marga * 1998 ''Lust for Frankenstein'' as Goddess / The Creature * 2000 ''Blood and Honor'' as Maude Stuart * 2004 ''Tomb of the Werewolf'' as Elizabeth Bathory * 2005 ''The Naked Monster'' as Second Mom * 2006 ''The Bikini Escort Company'' as Miss Howell * 2008 ''Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust'' as Polly Bunderhoof * 2008 ''Voodoo Dollz'' as Miss Anton * 2010 ''Megaconda'' as Anna Carson * 2011 ''1313: Wicked Stepbrother'' as Minvera * 2011 ''1313: Actor Slash Model'' as Suzy * 2012 ''1313: Cougar Cult'' as Victoria * 2012 ''1313: Bermuda Triangle'' as Echo * 2013 ''The Trouble With Barry'' as Michelle * 2014 ''3 Scream Queens'' as Sylvia * 2022 ''Mark of the Devil 777: The Moralist, Part 2'' as Miss Mann * 2022 ''Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama 2'' as Lisa * 2024 ''Monster Mash'' as Browning * 2024 ''Return of the Dark House of Mystery'' as Emma Lou * 2025 ''Mockbuster'' as herself<ref>{{cite web |title=Mockbuster {{!}} Where to watch streaming and online in Australia |url=https://www.flicks.com.au/movie/mockbuster/ |website=Flicks |access-date=November 1, 2025}}</ref> {{div col end}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{IMDb name|0000292}} * {{Adult Film Database name|id=4934|name=Michelle Bauer}} * {{IAFD name|id=PSnow|gender=female|name=Michelle Bauer}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bauer, Michelle}} Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century American actresses Category:21st-century American actresses Category:Actresses from Montebello, California Category:American female adult models Category:American pornographic film actresses Category:Female models from California Category:Penthouse Pets Category:Pornographic film actors from California