Rubinstein worked for twenty years in medical labs....
Rubinstein worked for twenty years in medical labs before undergoing a "midlife crisis" and moving to Europe in the late 1970s. She lived in Siam, Denmark and Rome doing odd jobs until returning to the USA and an acting career in 1980.
The 4'3" actress had a tough time being cast at first and did a lot of voice-over work (with one role as a Munchkin in "Under the Rainbow") before being cast as a no-nonsense psychic in the "Poltergeist" films ("Poltergeist" 1982, "Poltergeist II: The Other Side" 1986, and "Poltergeist III" 1988). She played a dramatic role as a domineering mother in the Spanish-made film "Anguish" (1987), and reached her widest audience in the quirky TV drama "Picket Fences". Her character was killed off (by falling into a freezer) in 1995. Rubenstein went to guest on the NBC series "Caroline in the City" and "The Pretender" and narrated the Fox Family Channel/ABC Family series "Scariest Places on Earth" (2001- ).