In The Terminator, Sarah Connor’s friend who is killed by the Terminator is Ginger Ventura.
Ginger is Sarah’s roommate and close friend, played by Bess Motta. The Terminator finds her by using Sarah’s telephone-directory listing, because it is systematically targeting women named Sarah Connor. Ginger’s death demonstrates the machine’s methodical approach and makes the threat personal for Sarah before she understands the full time-traveling plot.
A common mistake is to name Sarah’s boyfriend, Matt Buchanan. Matt is also killed during the same attack, but he is not Sarah’s friend or roommate. Kyle Reese is the soldier sent back to protect Sarah, while John Connor is Sarah’s future son and the resistance leader whose existence motivates the assassination mission.
James Cameron directed and co-wrote the 1984 film. The cast included Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, and Michael Biehn as Kyle Reese. The film established the central mythology later expanded in several sequels.