Blonde hair and blue eyes - Is there a more winning combination?
Simply put, it is a list of the most beautiful women (in my eyes, anyway) with blonde hair and blue eyes.
List activity
4.7K views
• 17 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
- 1 - 250
- 395 people
- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Elizabeth Montgomery was born into show business. Her parents were Broadway actress Elizabeth Allen and screen actor Robert Montgomery. She graduated from the Spence School in New York City and attended the Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. After three years of intensive training, she made her TV debut in her father's 1950s playhouse series Robert Montgomery Presents (1950) and appeared in more than 200 live programs over the next decade. She once remarked, "I guess you could say I'm a TV baby." Notable early film roles included The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955) and Johnny Cool (1963). However, she is best remembered for her leading role as the witch Samantha in the top-rated ABC sitcom Bewitched (1964). Her family-- mother Endora (Agnes Moorehead), look-alike cousin Serena (Montgomery, wearing a dark wig) and advertising executive husband Darrin (first Dick York then Dick Sargent)--tried to suppress her supernatural skills but often turned to her tricks to solve problems. The signal of impending witchcraft was a twitch of Samantha's nose. After her first and only TV series ended she turned to made-for-TV movies, many of which won critical praise: A Case of Rape (1974), The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975), and Black Widow Murders: The Blanche Taylor Moore Story (1993). She narrated the movie The Panama Deception (1992), which won an Academy Award in 1993. Reference works showed her as 62 when she died though the family said she was 57. The family did not disclose the type of cancer which caused her death.- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Florence Henderson was considered by protocol executive Jerold Franks, CSA to be "...one of the most generous stars I have ever worked with." Los Angeles, New York and all parts of the country, Florence has helped raise millions of dollars for various charitable organizations.
Jerold Franks, friend and confidante to actress Mary Martin as well as producer of Ms. Martin's Celebration of Life moved the date of the tribute at the Majestic Theatre in New York out of respect to Mary and Florence's personal friendship as well as having played the role of "Maria" for hundreds of performances. Any Mary Martin tribute can never not include Florence Henderson. I love her as a performer and very proud to call her a friend. Franks was introduced to her late and second husband, John Kappas. Franks' credits his friend Florence for introducing him to certified hypnotist John Kappas to deal with the death of Franks' only son.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Goldie Jeanne Hawn was born November 21, 1945 in Washington, D.C. to Laura Hawn, who owned a dance school, and Rut Hawn, a band musician. She has one sister, entertainment publicist Patti Hawn; a brother, Edward, died in infancy before her birth. She was raised in the Jewish religion. Her mother was Jewish and the daughter of Hungarian immigrants. Her father was Presbyterian. At the age of three, Goldie began taking ballet and tap dance lessons, and at the age of ten she danced in the chorus of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo production of "The Nutcracker". At the age of 19 she ran and instructed a ballet school, having dropped out of college where she was majoring in drama. Before going into the film business she worked as a professional dancer.
Hawn made her feature film debut in The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968), with a small role as a giggling dancer. Her first big role came in 1969, where she played opposite Walter Matthau and Ingrid Bergman in Cactus Flower (1969), a role which earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. After the Oscar win her career took off and she followed with roles in successful comedies such as There's a Girl in My Soup (1970) and Shampoo (1975), and more dramatic roles in The Girl from Petrovka (1974) and The Sugarland Express (1974). In 1978, she starred alongside Chevy Chase in the box office hit, Foul Play (1978). In 1980 she starred in another box office hit, Private Benjamin (1980), where she also served as producer. During the 1980s she starred in hit movies such as Best Friends (1982), Protocol (1984) and Wildcats (1986). In 1987, she appeared with her boyfriend Kurt Russell in Overboard (1987), which became both a critical and box office disappointment. Her career slowed down after that until 1990 when she starred alongside Mel Gibson in Bird on a Wire (1990). In 1992 she starred in the successful film, Death Becomes Her (1992), with Meryl Streep and Bruce Willis, which was followed by another successful film HouseSitter (1992), which co-starred Steve Martin. In 1996 she played the role of an aging alcoholic actress in the comedy, The First Wives Club (1996), with Diane Keaton and Bette Midler; it became a critical and financial success. She also starred in the Woody Allen film Everyone Says I Love You (1996) and The Out-of-Towners (1999), which reunited her with Martin. In 2001 and 2002 she starred in Town & Country (2001) with Warren Beatty, and The Banger Sisters (2002) with Susan Sarandon.
Goldie has been married twice. First to dancer/director Gus Trikonis from 1969 to 1973. In 1976 she married musician Bill Hudson and became a mother for the first time that year, when she gave birth to their son Oliver Hudson. In 1979, she had her second child with Hudson, daughter Kate Hudson. The marriage ended in divorce in 1980. Since 1983, she has been having a relationship with actor Kurt Russell. Their son Wyatt Russell was born in 1986. Goldie is also a de-facto stepmother to Kurt's son Boston Russell. She has eight grandchildren.- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Statuesque 5'7" blonde beauty Sybil Danning reigns supreme as one of the sexiest, most dynamic, and commanding actresses to achieve cult B-movie queen status. Born in Austria as daughter of US Army major and Austrian mother she grew up on army bases in New Jersey, Maryland and Sacramento, CA.. Sybil started as a model then film debut as the beautiful tragic Lorelei, German legend who threw herself into the Rhine River in despair over a faithless lover then transformed into a siren who lured fishermen to destruction. As Nibelungen princess Kriemhild, she turns she-devil revenges death of her love Siegfried by her brutal Burgundian King brothers. Sybil studied 3 years with noted German drama coach Anne-Marie Hanschke, multiple mainstream European and American movies followed. When offered lead in prestigious Francis Durbridge play for Germany, Switzerland, and Austria; she chose Hollywood instead. Sybil's (Raid on Entebbe) Oscar nominated Best Foreign Film OPERATION THUNDER BOLT, aka MIVTSA JONATAN with Klaus kinski was her calling card. It was her impressive performance as vivacious Valkyrie warrior "St Exmin" for which she won multiple awards, science-fiction cult movie BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS that introduced Sybil to young and old worldwide. A studio contracted Sybil to produce an action figure based on St Exmin with street date April 2021. Male & female fans love her rare beauty, sexiness, & toughness as tough prison inmate, formidable swanky swordfighter, wicked werewolf queen, cunning femme fatale English professor, Queen of the Moon, wicked warden, alien queen, loyal LAPD officer, brave bounty hunter, etc. Sybil has 2 comics, RUGER(TM) currently in discussion for an action TV series. Away for a while due to personal reasons, Tarantino and Rob Zombie brought her back in GRINDHOUSE as Nazi Villain and HALLOWEEN as nasty nurse! Sybil's back in action!- Actress
- Producer
- Additional Crew
This attractive, happy go lucky blonde actress, educated at the University of Kansas and a former ballet soloist, first broke into both TV and cinema screens in the mid 1970s and through her appearances in several well remembered horror and sci-fi films, and Dee quickly gained a cult following among the fantasy film fans. Poor Dee always seemed to be on the wrong side of some malevolent person or evil creature....she was pursued by a clan of cannibal killers in The Hills Have Eyes (1977), terrorized by a pack of werewolves in the superb The Howling (1981), got a break from the horror, as a sympathetic mom in the mega sci-fi hit E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and nearly ends up lunch for a rabid St. Bernard in the heart stopping Cujo (1983).
In the early 1980s, Wallace-Stone actually shared the screen several times with her then husband Christopher Stone before his unfortunate, early demise from a heart attack in October, 1995.
However, typecasting Dee Wallace-Stone as a horror heroine does not do her justice, as unlike some other scream queens whose careers quickly faded, Dee has gone on to have a very busy and varied acting career, appearing in over 90 feature films to date! Her All-American looks and easy going demeanor has seen Dee often cast as a typical suburban mother, a sympathetic friend, or a trusted ally. Fans warm to her endearing smile and natural warmth, and Dee continues to find herself in constant demand in front of the camera, plus she has her own much visited website.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Twiggy is a top model of the late 1960s, who made skinny an "inny," along with other famous skinny models such as Jean Shrimpton ("The Shrimp"), Veruschka von Lehndorff, and Penelope Tree ("The Tree"). She was born Leslie Hornby on September 19, 1949, in Twickenham, Middlesex, England, one of three daughters of Nell Hornby (née Nellie Lydia Reeman), a factory worker, and Norman Hornby, a master carpenter and joiner. By blending pop art with fashion, the doe-eyed, pouty-lipped gamine with the angelic puss and boyish crop took the industry by storm at age 17 defining the age of "flower power." She originally was nicknamed "Sticks" because of her reed-thin figure, but then switched it to "Twigs" and, finally, "Twiggy." A model for a scant four years, she had never even walked the runways by the time she exploded onto the scene. Educated at the Kilburn High School for Girls, her look and image was an instant globular sensation. She was even imitated by Mattel when they issued a "Twiggy Barbie" in 1967 and by Milton Bradley who created a board game out of her. Lunch boxes, false eye lashes, tights, sweaters, tote bags and paper dolls -- all these bore her famous moniker. In her prime she graced the covers of Vogue and Tatler, and even had her own American publication "Her Mod, Mod Teen World." The "psychedelic '60s" would not have been the same without her.
In 1970, Twiggy was able to parlay her incredible success into a respectable career in film and TV and on the musical theater stage. It was the iconoclastic director Ken Russell who instilled in her the ambition to move away from modeling and study acting, voice and dance. An extra in his movie The Devils (1971), Russell ushered her front-and-center with the jazz-age musical The Boy Friend (1971), his homage to the Busby Berkeley Hollywood musicals. Taking on the role originated on stage by Julie Andrews, Twiggy was awarded a Golden Globe for her efforts.
Her second feature, the thriller W (1974) cast her with future husband Michael Witney, who was nearly two decades her senior. They married in 1977 and later appeared together in There Goes the Bride (1980). She also cameoed in The Blues Brothers (1980) with Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. Following Witney's untimely death in 1983, she appeared in The Doctor and the Devils (1985) and the comedy Club Paradise (1986) with Robin Williams before meeting her second husband, actor Leigh Lawson, while filming Madame Sousatzka (1988) in which she played a singer.
Though Twiggy has worked from time to time on TV, her exposure has been somewhat limited. She hosted a couple of self-titled shows in England and co-starred in the very short-lived sitcom Princesses (1991) here in America, but not too much else. The singing stage is a different story. She made her West End debut as "Cinderella" in 1974 and played Eliza Doolittle in a legit performance of "Pygmalion" in 1981. In 1983 she reunited with her "Boy Friend" co-star Tommy Tune and together dazzled Broadway audiences as a tapping twosome with "My One and Only," a warm, nostalgic revamping of the Gershwin classic "Funny Face." The charming waif went on to appear in a 1997 London revival of Noël Coward's "Blithe Spirit," then played star Gertrude Lawrence alongside Harry Groener's Coward in the song-and-sketch musical "Noel and Gertie" (later retitled "If Love Were All"), which focused on the close "blendship" between the two icons all to the accompaniment of 20 Coward songs.
Back to her modeling ways, Twiggy came out of retirement to be photographed by the likes of John Fwanel and Annie Liebovitz in the 90s and has recently joined the professional elite of judges led by Tyra Banks on the reality show America's Next Top Model (2003), her warmer, more unassuming demeanor filling in for the aggressive, vitriolic Janice Dickinson.- Actress
- Producer
- Additional Crew
This elegant lady has defined the television version of the rich, sophisticated businesswoman who knows what she wants, and will do whatever it takes to get it. She was born Patsy Ann McClenny on February 3, 1950 in Dallas, Texas. She began acting as a child, when her mother enrolled her in drama lessons after she was too shy to give a book report in class. From the age of 10, she performed in children's plays. Later, she would do dinner theater and stock productions in Dallas. She chose Morgan as a stage name. In 1973, Morgan decided to pursue a career in television; just 6 weeks after moving to New York, she landed the key role of Jennifer in the daytime soap opera Search for Tomorrow (1951); she stayed on until 1977.
Morgan moved to Los Angeles, where she originated the role of Jenna Wade on the wildly popular nighttime soap opera Dallas (1978) (Jenna was later portrayed by Priscilla Presley). Morgan made numerous guest appearances on television series. She played Constance (Weldon) Carlyle in Flamingo Road (1980), and she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress; that was her breakout series that propelled her to stardom.
Morgan continued to perform in live theater, her acclaimed portrayal of Skye in the off-Broadway comedy "Geniuses" helped make it one of the "Top Ten Plays" of the year according to Time Magazine and the New York Times. Other stage appearances have included productions of "Goodbye Charlie" and "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." On television, she played the naughty Racine in the soap opera Paper Dolls (1984) in 1984. Later, she starred in the soap opera Falcon Crest (1981) from 1985-86, having made a niche for herself playing ambitious beauties. Morgan received an Emmy nomination for a special episode of Murphy Brown (1988).
Morgan has shared some of her beauty secrets by authoring the book "Super Looks" which is a complete guide that includes makeup, exercise, and diet tips. Morgan is a member of the Entertainment Industry AIDS Task Force. She is an active speaker on environmental issues and helped found the Environmental Communications Office, which encourages entertainment industry professionals to become better educated and more active on environmental issues. Morgan is a collector of movie memorabilia (particularly anything about Marilyn Monroe) and antique clothing. She is a ballet fan and is also interested in anthropology and paleontology; Morgan is truly a brainy beauty.- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Cybill Lynne Shepherd was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to Patty, a homemaker, and William Shepherd, a small business owner. Named after her grandfather, Cy, and her father, Bill, Shepherd's career began at a young age in modeling, when she won the "Miss Teenage Memphis" contest in 1966 and the "Model of the Year" contest in 1968. She became a fashion icon and went on to grace the cover of every major magazine, as well as famously act as spokesperson for L'Oreal. This lead to her acting and on her screen debut in Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show (1971). Nominated for Most Promising Newcomer, Shepherd continued to build her film career with influential roles in The Heartbreak Kid (1972) and Taxi Driver (1976). After taking a break in her career to have her first child, Clementine Ford, she returned to Hollywood in 1983, to make her television series debut in an episode of Fantasy Island (1977). She went on to star with Bruce Willis in the highly recognized show, Moonlighting (1985), and won Shepherd two Golden Globe Awards. Her third Golden Globe followed for her series, Cybill (1995), with which she also took on a producer role.
Aside from the film industry, Shepherd has been an outspoken activist for issues such as gay rights and abortion rights. In 2009, she was honored by the Human Rights Campaign in Atlanta to accept one of two National Ally for Equality awards.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
With over 300 television appearances to her credit, Debra Jo Rupp is perhaps best known for her role as the hilarious and beloved high-strung mom 'Kitty Forman' in the long-running FOX comedy series "That '70s Show." Her performance established her as a sitcom legend, and one of TV's Favorite Moms of all time!
Debra Jo was welcomed into the Marvel Universe with her memorable turn as 'Mrs. Hart' in Marvel Studios' "WandaVision" for Disney+.
Fans of "That '70s Show" can now look forward to Debra Jo reprising her iconic role of 'Kitty Forman' in the upcoming "That '90s Show" for Netflix! Debra Jo and Kurtwood Smith ('Red Forman') will anchor the new spin-off series, for which they will also serve as executive producers. Set in Wisconsin in 1995, they play grandparents to 'Leia' (daughter of 'Eric' and 'Donna') who visits over the summer and bonds with a new generation of Point Place kids, under the watchful eye of 'Kitty' and the stern glare of 'Red.' Production is scheduled to begin Q1 2022 on 10 episodes.
Debra Jo's memorable television roles include Phoebe's sister-in-law 'Alice' on "Friends," Jerry's Booking Agent 'Katie' on "Seinfeld," and more recently as Beth and Randall's social worker 'Linda' on "This is Us" and Abby's mother, 'Janice Phillips,' on "The Ranch." Notable guest-starring roles include "NCIS: Los Angeles," "From the Earth to the Moon" directed by Sally Field, and "The Office." She also previously starred in the ABC comedy series, "Better With You."
She made her feature film debut with Tom Hanks in "Big." She went on to play Jay Baruchel's mom in "She's Out of My League" and Jamie Kennedy's mom in "Kickin It Old Skool." Additional feature credits include "The Opposite Sex" with Mena Suvari, Geoff Stults and Kristin Chenoweth, "She Wants Me" with Josh Gad, Charlie Sheen and Hilary Duff, "Clockwatchers" with Toni Collette and Parker Posey, "Lucky 13" and "Sgt. Bilko" with Steve Martin and Dan Aykroyd.
Debra Jo has lent her voice to the Emmy-winning "Teacher's Pet" with Nathan Lane (both cartoon and feature film), "Garfield," "Air Buddies" and various other projects with tiny animals.
Debra Jo has a rich and impressive theatre background and has appeared on and off-Broadway for the past four decades. She appeared on Broadway with Kathleen Turner and Charles Durning in the 1990 revival of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." She starred off-Broadway in Cynthia Heimel's "A Girl's Guide to Chaos" (American Place Theatre), "Frankie and Johnnie in The Clair de Lune" (Westside Arts) and "The Butcher of Baraboo" (Second Stage Theatre) directed by Judith Ivey. She has also starred in numerous regional productions at Williamstown Theatre, Barrington Stage Company, Chester Theatre Company and Berkshire Theatre Group.
In recent years, Debra Jo has enjoyed getting back to her theater roots. She starred off-Broadway in the one-woman show, "Becoming Dr. Ruth," based on the life of pioneering radio and television sex therapist, Dr. Ruth Westheimer. She was nominated for both a Drama Desk Award and an Outer Critics Circle Award, in the category of Outstanding Solo Performance.
In 2019, she starred off-Broadway in Bekah Brunstetter's play, "The Cake," at The Manhattan Theatre Club, after originating the role at The Echo Theater Company (Los Angeles), Barrington Stage Company (Pittsfield, MA) and Geffen Playhouse (L.A.). For her performance in "The Cake," Debra Jo won the L.A. Stage Ovation Award and L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award.
Aside from acting, Debra Jo's eclectic interests range from gardening, needlepointing and grilling, to playing Bridge, video war games and Fantasy Football. During Covid lockdowns, she kept herself occupied by taking long walks in the snow and ordering huge boxes of Nacho Cheese Doritos in small bags in order to consume as much salt as possible! She also recorded a multitude of Cameo videos, with proceeds helping to keep local restaurant workers afloat in The Berkshires. Ever by Debra Jo's side are her loyal Yorkies, Olive and Martini, who have both had all their knees replaced and are looking forward to their impending move to the west coast where "That '90s Show" will film.- Actress
- Producer
- Executive
Tall (5'10"), lovely, statuesque Seattle native Jean Elizabeth Smart was born on September 13, 1951. The second of four children born to a teacher and his wife, she developed an early interest in acting and attended the University of Washington following her graduation from Seattle's Ballard High School. She attained a BA degree in fine arts there.
Jean's first professional season was with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival where she went on to perform in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing" and "A Moon for the Misbegotten," among others. During the late 1970's she built up a strong resume in regional theater with such companies as the Seattle Repertory Theatre ("Equus," "Fallen Angels"), ACT ("A Christmas Carol"), Pittsburgh Public Theatre (as Lady Macbeth), Alaska Repertory Theatre ("Terra Nova"), and Alliance Theatre ("A History of the American Film"). Her first significant break came with a starring role in the potent, critically-acclaimed lesbian drama "Last Summer at Bluefish Cove," which earned her an Off-Broadway Drama Desk nomination in 1980. She capped this honor with a Los Angeles Drama Critics award in 1983 when she repeated her triumph on the West Coast.
Jean made a highly auspicious Broadway debut in 1981 playing Marlene Dietrich in "Piaf" starring Jane Lapotaire, and it was the subsequent TV taping of that show, Piaf (1984), that brought about major Hollywood interest. A regular on the short-lived sitcoms Teachers Only (1982), Reggie (1983) and Maximum Security (1984), Jean hit pure gold in her fourth attempt as the delightfully ditzy Charlene Frazier on Designing Women (1986). The show was an instant hit and it was here that she would meet future husband Richard Gilliland, who played the recurring role of co-player Annie Potts' boyfriend J.D. for several seasons.
Feeling confined and fearing typecasting, Jean left the show in 1991 to find more challenging work. She drew major acclaim, giving a chilling portrayal of a true-to-life serial killer in the TV movie Overkill: The Aileen Wuornos Story (1992), long before Charlize Theron copped an Oscar for her equally chilling cinematic version. In other TV movies, Jean earned strong applause for her roles as a mentally challenged woman in The Yarn Princess (1994); as a concerned rural mother in Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' classic The Yearling (1994); as an attorney involved in a high-profile murder case in Undue Influence (1996); as a wife who discovers her longtime husband is gay in A Change of Heart (1998); co-starring with real-life husband Richard Gilliland in Audrey's Rain (2003) as new parents after her sister commits suicide; and as an FBI profiler in Killer Instinct: From the Files of Agent Candice DeLong (2003).
On stage, Jean she earned a Tony nomination for her delightfully madcap part in the Moss Hart/George S. Kaufman classic comedy farce "The Man Who Came to Dinner" opposite Nathan Lane. The Broadway show was later made as a TV movie, The Man Who Came to Dinner (2000), with both Lane and Smart.
Having made her debut with a small role in the crimer Hoodlums (1980), films would never be as strong a venue for Jean as the stage or TV. She did, however, show off her versatility in both comedy and drama with secondary roles with such films as Flashpoint (1984), the Goldie Hawn vehicle Protocol (1984), Fire with Fire (1986), Project X (1987), Mistress (1992), Edie & Pen (1996) and The Odd Couple II (1998). Jean topped the decade off well with two independent films -- earning an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her role as Sarah Polley's ill-natured mother in Guinevere (1999), and first-billed in the mother/daughter road trip dramedy Forever Fabulous (1999) co-starring Jennifer Elise Cox.
Remaining extremely busy into the millennium, Jean went on to win bookend Emmy awards for her guest appearances on the sitcom Frasier (1993) and earned two more Emmy nominations for her potent perms in the crime drama 24 (2001) starring Kiefer Sutherland. She also graced a host of other series with regular/recurring roles on the romantic comedy In-Laws (2002); the crimer The District (2000); the family comedy Center of the Universe (2004) (co-starring John Goodman); the animated program Kim Possible (2002) (as the voice of Dr. Ann Possible); the mystery comedy Samantha Who? (2007) starring Christina Applegate; the revamped crimer Hawaii Five-0 (2010) (as the governor); the crime dramedy Harry's Law (2011); the dark thriller Fargo (2014); the action sci-fi drama Legion (2017); and the detective series Mare of Easttown (2021).
More recent films include Youth in Revolt (2009), Barry Munday (2010), Hope Springs (2012), Waking (2013), Warren (2014), Miss Meadows (2014), The Accountant (2016), Life Itself (2018) and Brampton's Own (2018).
Diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age 13, Jean has played an active part over the years in public awareness. She has two children with her late husband Richard, son Connor and adopted son (from China) Forrest.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Intriguing, inspiring, and never less than interesting -- key adjectives in describing the career of Beverly D'Angelo, which has well passed the four-decade mark. Perhaps deserving better movies than she generally found herself in, she nevertheless was always an object of fascination and the one to watch...whatever the role. Hardly the shrinking violet type, Hollywood counted on her for her colorful personality, down-to-earth demeanor and scene-stealing capabilities.
Beverly Heather D'Angelo was born on November 15, 1951 in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of musicians Priscilla Ruth (Smith), a violinist, and Eugene Constantino "Gene" D'Angelo, a bass player who also managed a TV station. Her maternal grandfather, Howard Dwight Smith, was the architect who designed the Ohio ("Horseshoe") Stadium at Ohio State University. Her mother had English, Irish, Scottish, and German ancestry, and her father was of Italian descent. Beverly once attended an American school in Florence, Italy.
Initially drawn to art, Beverly worked as a animator/cartoonist at Hanna-Barbera Productions before moving to Canada to pursue a rock singing career, To make ends meet she worked as a session vocalist and sang anyplace she could -- from coffeehouses to topless bars. At one point the teenager was invited to join up with rockabilly legend Ronnie Hawkins. Beverly's acting career started up when she left the Hawkins band and joined the Charlottetown Festival repertory company. She was touring Canada as Ophelia in "Kronborg: 1582", a rock musical version of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" when the renowned Colleen Dewhurst caught a performance and saw promise in both Beverly and the show. Eventually musical director Gower Champion got into the mix and the show was completely revamped, becoming the rock musical "Rockabye Hamlet", which made its way to Broadway in 1976. While the show itself was short-lived, Beverly's Ophelia attracted fine notices and she soon found herself on the West coast with film and TV opportunities. After this point, she seldom returned to the stage but did star alongside Ed Harris in the 1995 off-Broadway production of Sam Shepard's "Simpatico", which earned her a Theatre World Award.
A role in the TV miniseries Captains and the Kings (1976) led to bit parts in The Sentinel (1977) and in the Woody Allen classic Annie Hall (1977). A string of co-starring roles followed with First Love (1977), the Clint Eastwood starrer Every Which Way But Loose (1978) and the film adaptation of the hit counterculture musical Hair (1979). Best of all for Beverly was her powerhouse featured performance as the one-and-only Patsy Cline in the acclaimed biopic Coal Miner's Daughter (1980). Both she and Oscar winner Sissy Spacek (as fellow country singer Loretta Lynn) expertly supplied their own vocals.
Playing everything from tough-as-nails prostitutes, party girls and barflies to rich, prim widows and depressed, alcoholic moms, most of Beverly's output was solid during this time. Playing happening kind of gals, she customarily rose above much of the standard comedic or dramatic material given. An interesting gallery of offbeat characters came her way in a number of hit-or-miss features: Paternity (1981), Finders Keepers (1984), Big Trouble (1986), Maid to Order (1987), High Spirits (1988), Cold Front (1989), Daddy's Dyin'... Who's Got the Will? (1990), The Pope Must Diet (1991), Man Trouble (1992), Lightning Jack (1994), The Crazysitter (1994), Merchants of Venus (1998) and Sugar Town (1999). She also sang in a few of these films.
Beverly attracted mainstream notice as Chevy Chase's beleaguered wife in the comedy spoof National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) and its three sequels. Stronger roles came with such films as the English/Irish production The Miracle (1991) and the Neo-Nazi film American History X (1998). She was also a favorite of director John Schlesinger who used her in Honky Tonk Freeway (1981) and Eye for an Eye (1996), among others. In the spoof Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills (1996), in which she served as associate producer, Beverly gamely starred as a chic Beverly Hills housewife who turns into a flying prehistoric reptile by night. Other offbeat independent filming includes Illuminata (1998), Merchants of Venus (1998), Weaver of Claybank (1915), Black Water Transit (2009), The House Bunny (2008), Episode #7.33 (2007), Bounty Killer (2013), Frat Pack (2018) and Dreamland (2016).
On TV, Beverly scored well as matricide victim Kitty Menendez in Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills (1994) and earned an Emmy-nomination (and arguably gave the best performance) as Stella Kowalski opposite "Hair" co-star Treat Williams in the TV remake of A Streetcar Named Desire (1984). Other topnotch TV mini-movies included Sweet Temptation (1996) and Judgment Day: The John List Story (1993), in which she played Robert Blake's devout wife. On primetime she has been cast quite assertively in recurring parts -- she has been spotted on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) as a defense attorney; Entourage (2004) as a talent agent; Shooter (2016) as a national security advisor; and Insatiable (2018) as a scheming beauty contestant coach.
Beverly's off-camera romantic life has been just as interesting. Following her relationship with "Hair" director Milos Forman, she married Lorenzo Salviati, an economics student who also was an Italian duke. She left Hollywood and lived with him in Europe, but separated after two years and returned. A six-year relationship with Irish director Neil Jordan was followed by one with Oscar-winning production designer Anton Furst; this ended tragically when, just weeks after their breakup, he committed suicide. A former union with the volatile Al Pacino produced twins Olivia and Anton, who were born in 2001.
These days, Beverly's career on camera has remained secondary to the raising of her children. Occasionally she has made use of her vocal talents performing at L.A. nightclubs and with a jazz band that included brother Jeff. From time to time she still lights up the screen as a brash professional or somebody's colorful mom; whatever time she has on screen, whether major or minor, it is always welcomed and never, ever less than...interesting.- Angie Best was born on 26 July 1952 in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, UK. She was previously married to George Best.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
A native of Tucson, Arizona, Ann Dusenberry is the daughter of Bruce and Katie Dusenberry. Dusenberry studied theater arts for four years, first at the University of Arizona, then Occidental College, where she earned her degree. She got her first role by circulating her resume and photograph within the Universal Studios offices using internal envelopes obtained by her boyfriend, a truck driver for Universal. She then signed a seven-year contract with Universal.
Dusenberry made her acting debut in 1975 with a small role as a barmaid in the film White Line Fever. She gained attention in 1978 for the role of Tina Wilcox in the horror film Jaws 2, the sequel to Steven Spielberg's 1975 classic. Dusenberry was hired as a contract actress by Universal for the role. Due to the long shooting time away from her home in Los Angeles, she actually had no interest in playing the role. While the film originally directed by John D. Hancock, he was fired after a short time of shooting and replaced by Jeannot Szwarc. This also resulted in the dismissal of many actors who had already signed on. Dusenberry's role, Tina Wilcox, however, was still expanded during script changes and she received co-starring credit. She had another success in 1978 with the role of Amy March in the miniseries Little Women, an adaptation of the novel of the same name. She also took on the role in the short-lived 1979 television series based on it, which failed to match the miniseries' success and was canceled after 4 episodes.
Dusenberry's best-known film appearances in the 1980s include her role as Stevie in Heart Beat alongside Nick Nolte and Sissy Spacek, and as Valerie in Cutter's Way alongside Jeff Bridges. In the 1986 film The Men's Club, she again starred alongside Roy Scheider, her co-star from Jaws 2. In addition to her appearances in films, she mainly played roles for television. In 1977 she starred alongside Harrison Ford, shortly before the latter's breakthrough with Star Wars, in the television thriller The Possessed. Other television roles included that of Amory (aka Angel Collins) in Stonestreet: Who Killed the Centerfold Model? (1977) and the dual role of Joy Morgan and Elaine Steel in Killjoy (1981) alongside Kim Basinger. She also appeared in numerous successful series of the period, including Magnum, P.I. (1982), Remington Steele (1983) and Murder, She Wrote (1986 and 1987). In 1986, she starred as the daughter of Lucille Ball's character in the short-lived series Life with Lucy.
After co-starring in the 1992 thriller Play Nice and a guest appearance in the series The Commish (1992), she retired from acting in front of the camera in the early 1990s. However, Dusenberry continues to be active as a stage actress. Among other roles, she played Mrs. Gibbs in the play Our Town (1998). Other plays have included 2014's Noises Off and 2021's Ripcord.
She is married to composer Brad Fiedel, with whom she lives in Santa Barbara, California. They have two daughters named Alixandra and Zoe. She received an MA degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, and works as Artistic Director of the Actors' Conservatory Theatre in Santa Barbara.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Kim Basinger was born December 8, 1953, in Athens, Georgia, the third of five children. Both her parents had been in entertainment, her dad had played big-band jazz, and her mother had performed water ballet in several Esther Williams movies. Kim was introspective, from her father's side. As a schoolgirl, she was very shy. To help her overcome this, her parents had Kim study ballet from an early age. By the time she reached sweet sixteen, the once-shy Kim entered the Athens Junior Miss contest. From there, she went on to win the Junior Miss Georgia title, and traveled to New York to compete in the national Junior Miss pageant. Kim, who had blossomed to a 5' 7" beauty, was offered a contract on the spot with the Ford Modeling Agency. At the age of 20, Kim was a top model commanding $1,000 a day. Throughout the early 1970s, she appeared on dozens of magazine covers and in hundreds of ads, most notably as the Breck girl. Kim took acting classes at the Neighborhood Playhouse, performed in various Greenwich Village clubs, and she sang under the stage name Chelsea. Kim moved to Los Angeles in 1976, ready to conquer Hollywood. Kim broke into television doing episodes of such hit series as Charlie's Angels (1976). In 1980, she married Ron Snyder (they divorced in 1989). In movies, she had roles like being a Bond girl in Never Say Never Again (1983) and playing a small-town Texan beauty in Nadine (1987). Her breakout role was as photojournalist Vicki Vale in the blockbuster hit Batman (1989). There was no long-orchestrated campaign on her part to snag this plum role, Kim was a last-minute replacement for Sean Young. This took her to a career high.
With perhaps too much disposable income, Kim headed up an investment group that purchased the entire town of Braselton, in her native Georgia, for $20 million (she would later have to sell it). In 1993, Kim married Alec Baldwin, and in 1995 they had a daughter, Ireland Eliesse. Kim took some time off to stay at home with her child. Kim, who loves animals and is a strict vegetarian, devoted energy to animal rights issues, and PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), even posing for some ads. In 1997, Kim gave an Oscar-winning performance in the film noir classic L.A. Confidential (1997). Kim's salary for I Dreamed of Africa (2000) was $5,000,000, putting her firmly in the category of big-name movie star. And no doubt there are still many great things ahead, in the career of cover girl turned Oscar-winning actress Kim Basinger.- Actress
- Producer
Offbeat, unconventionally pretty, and utterly mesmerizing, Ellen Barkin was born on April 16, 1954 in the Bronx, New York, to Evelyn (Rozin), a hospital administrator, and Sol Barkin, a chemical salesman. Her parents were both from Russian Jewish families. Raised in the South Bronx and Queens, New York area, she wanted to be an actress as early as her teens and was eventually accepted into Manhattan's High School of the Performing Arts.
Barkin then attended Hunter College and received her degree after double majoring in history and drama. At one point she wanted to teach ancient history, but instead turned her thoughts back to her first love: acting. Barkin then continued her education at New York's Actor's Studio. Fearful of the auditioning process, she studied acting for seven years before finally landing her first audition. While continuing her studies, she worked as a waitress at the avant-garde Ocean Club. Performing off-Broadway in such plays "Shout Across the River" (1979), "Extremities" (1983), "Fool for Love" (1984) and "Eden Court" (1985), she was applauded across the board for her first film lead in Diner (1982) opposite Mickey Rourke and Daniel Stern, and pursued sexy tough-cookie status thereafter with such quirky roles in The Big Easy (1986) starring Dennis Quaid and Siesta (1987) with Irish actor Gabriel Byrne, whom she married in 1987 and separated from in 1993 after producing a son and daughter. She and Byrne divorced in 1999.
With trademark squinting eyes and slightly off-kilter facial features, Barkin continued the fascination of her seamy/steamy girl-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks status most notably opposite Al Pacino in the thriller Sea of Love (1989). In addition, she was well cast as Robert De Niro's abused wife in This Boy's Life (1993), and portrayed "Calamity Jane" in Wild Bill (1995) with earnest. Other impressionable offbeat projects included roles in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) and Mercy (2000). On TV, she was well-cast in the mini-movie Blood Money (1988) and won an Emmy award for her gripping performance in Before Women Had Wings (1997) opposite Oprah Winfrey as another abused wife who, in this case, turns her violent anger on her own daughters.
In 2000, Barkin married billionaire Ronald O. Perelman, eleven years her senior and chairman of the Revlon company, and put her career relatively on hold, appearing sporadically in edgy films like She Hate Me (2004) and Palindromes (2004). Barkin and Perelman went through an acrimonious divorce in 2006.
Just prior to her divorce in late 2005, Barkin ventured into independent film production with Applehead Pictures, a company she set up with her brother George Barkin, who is a scriptwriter and former editor-in-chief of National Lampoon and High Times, and former Independent Film Channel executive Caroline Kaplan. In her first major acting appearance since her divorce from Perelman, Barkin co-starred in Ocean's Thirteen (2007) with George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and former co-star Pacino. She followed up Ocean's with a supporting role in Antoine Fuqua's Brooklyn's Finest (2009), Happy Tears (2009) with Parker Posey and Demi Moore, and Twelve (2010).
Barkin has produced features over time, including Letters to Juliet (2010) and Another Happy Day (2011) (she also starred in the latter project). On the small screen, she appeared in an episode of Modern Family (2009) and her new NBC show, The New Normal (2012), got a sneak peek during the Olympics.
More recent sightings have included the films The Chameleon (2010), Very Good Girls (2013), The Cobbler (2014), Hands of Stone (2016) and Active Adults (2017). She has had regular roles on the TV series The New Normal (2012) and Animal Kingdom (2016).- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Lovely, shapely and appealing blonde bombshell Cheryl Rixon was born on October 12, 1954 in Perth, Western Australia. Cheryl was twice a finalist in the Annual Miss West Coast bikini beauty pageant in the early 70s and was a hostess on a local Australian game show. She made her film debut in the amusingly lowbrow soft-core comedy romp Plugg (1975). Cheryl did guest spots portraying three different characters on a trio of episodes for the TV series Homicide (1964) and had a recurring role in the comedy soap opera The Box (1974). Rixon was the "Pet of the Month" in the December, 1977 issue of "Penthouse". In 1979, Cheryl was named "Pet of the Year" in a televised pageant held at the Aladdin hotel in Las Vegas; she did follow-up nude pictorials in the November, 1979 and January, 1980 issues of that popular men's magazine. In addition, Rixon posed for nude pictorials for the men's magazines "Oui" and "Playboy". Cheryl has acted in a handful of movies; she was quite funny and engaging as the bubbly "Annie" in Swap Meet (1979) and had a memorably sexy small role in the hilariously raucous Used Cars (1980). In July, 1980, Rixon kicked off New York City Mayor Ed Koch's "Festival of Fragrances". In 1985, she sued "Penthouse" magazine in the New York State Supreme Court for failing to give her various prizes promised to her; this was later affirmed on appeal. Cheryl went on to become a rock singer and continued modeling up until the mid-80s. In 1996, Cheryl Rixon launched her own line of designer jewelry called "Royal Order".- Actress
- Producer
Though probably not to her liking, actress Priscilla Barnes is best known for her bittersweet replacement of TV goddess Suzanne Somers during the tension-riddled times of the popular ABC slapstick comedy series, Three's Company (1976) -- bittersweet in that although the lovely, stringy-framed blonde did become a TV name as a result, she had to endure the anguish of stepping into the shoes of an enormously popular star whose determination to be paid wages equal to her male co-star had her unceremoniously dumped from the show when contractual negotiations went awry. It was not the happiest of times for Priscilla yet she managed to pull the whole thing off as nurse "Terri Alden", the pretty roommate and (along with co-star Joyce DeWitt), the other female foil to John Ritter's outrageous shenanigans.
Priscilla chose to be her own person and allowed her character a bit more substance and intelligence than Somers' jiggly ding-a-ling "Chrissy Snow". If nothing else, the new girl on the block added a much-needed stability to an already emotionally wrought set and was accepted by the show's fans for a final three seasons. She and DeWitt developed a fast friendship, which lasted long after the show's demise. Interestingly, Priscilla had been previously turned down for the vapid "Cindy Snow" character (played by Jenilee Harrison) because she was perceived as "too old" for the role.
Priscilla was born in Fort Dix, New Jersey, the daughter of an Air Force commander. An average student in school, the leggy beauty with the prominent cheekbones and intriguing slash of a mouth originally planned to become a dancer and joined a preteen group called the "The Vivacious Vixens", but a severe accident while performing on the Hollywood Bowl stage (she broke her leg and fractured her jaw) ended such dreams.
During her formative years, she earned some attention as a beauty pageant contender ("Miss Hollywood", "Miss San Bernardino", "Miss California" (runner-up)) while paying her dues waitressing. A chance acquaintance with Peter Falk, who saw promise in the girl who countered her fresh-faced beauty with a self-deprecating wit, led to a bit part on one of his Columbo (1971) episodes, A Deadly State of Mind (1975), in 1976, and the start of her professional career. The parts she nabbed typically accentuated her physical assets. A former Penthouse Pet for March 1976 (using the alias "Joann Witty"), Priscilla paid her dues via a series of unmemorable projects, including the films Texas Detour (1978), Delta Fox (1979) and The Seniors (1978) plus the short-lived TV series, The American Girls (1978), in which she played a smart-styled, traveling reporter. Handed a somewhat better supporting role in the Gene Wilder sequence of the four-part film, Sunday Lovers (1980), she gathered more experience on such shows as Cannon (1971), Starsky and Hutch (1975), The Incredible Hulk (1977), The Rockford Files (1974), Kojak (1973), Taxi (1978) and The Love Boat (1977), before becoming a vital part of Three's Company (1976)'s 1981 cast.
Barnes continued with the popular show in spite of her frustrations with producers and her dread of being typecast in innocuous comedy. Since then, she has maintained in a Hollywood that doesn't cater to women of "maturing" age, especially former TV stars. On TV, she added a feisty glamour to the series Dark Justice (1991), Viper (1994), Murder, She Wrote (1984) and other The Love Boat (1977) episodes. More often, however, she has shown up in low-budget films. She has certainly taken on more than her fair share of horror projects, including Stepfather 3 (1992), and Witch Academy (1995) in which some of her characters have met grisly ends. One film highlight was her featured role, not as a Bond girl but as the bride of a CIA agent (David Hedison), who is shot to death on her wedding day, in the Timothy Dalton "007" film, Licence to Kill (1989). She also enjoyed a role as a quirky fortune teller in Mallrats (1995).
Active on the theater scene over the years with credits such as "Born Yesterday", "Vanities", "Bus Stop" and "A Streetcar Named Desire" under her belt, she recently played Hillary Clinton in the 2007 black comedy, "Hillary Agonistes", in New York.
Maintaining an active career into the millennium, independent film credits including several horror yarns including The Backlot Murders (2002), Unseen Evil 2 (2004) co-starring Lorenzo Lamas, The Devil's Rejects (2005), Trailer Park of Terror (2008), Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield (2007) and Thr3e (2006); as well as the action film Final Payback (2001); the sci-fi drama Disaster Wars: Earthquake vs. Tsunami (2013); the eerie mystery Helen Alone (2014) and the comedy crime film Jonny's Sweet Revenge (2015). She has been married to actor Ted Monte since 2003.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Linda Purl was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, and raised in Japan, becoming the only foreigner to train at the Toho Geino Academy. At the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo, she played the role of "Louis" in "The King and I" (in Japanese), "Bet" in "Oliver" and the role of "Helen Keller" in "The Miracle Worker".
She then went to England to study under Marguerite Beale, before returning to the United States to study at the Lee Strasberg Institute and, later, with Robert Lewis. Her stage credits include: The Broadway musical, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"; "Getting and Spending", which ran on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Lovely and shapely blonde bombshell Gloria Guida was born into a family of Emilia-Romagna origin on November 19, 1955 in Merano, Trentino-South Tyrol, Italy. Guida moved with her family to Bologna when she was a child. Gloria started out in the entertainment business as a singer at her father's dancing place on the Romagna Riviera. Guida then embarked on a modeling career and was named Miss Teenage Italy in 1974. Gloria subsequently went on to star primarily in a slew of racy and playful Italian sex comedies made throughout the 1970's. Guida married actor and singer Johnny Dorelli on May 15, 1991. She's the mother of a daughter, Guendalina.- Patti Hansen was born on 17 March 1956 in Richmond [now Staten Island], New York City, New York, USA. She is an actress, known for They All Laughed (1981), Rich Kids (1979) and Hard to Hold (1984). She has been married to Keith Richards since 18 December 1983. They have two children.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Scott was born Melody Ann Thomas in Los Angeles, California. Her first film credit was as a child actress in the 1964 Alfred Hitchcock movie, Marnie (1964). After bit parts in movies in the mid-'70s (most notably in John Wayne's final film, The Shootist (1976)), she was offered bit parts on nighttime series, such as The Waltons (1972), The Rockford Files (1974) and Charlie's Angels (1976).
In 1979, at the age of 23, she began playing the part of stripper "Nikki Reed" on the daytime serial, The Young and the Restless (1973), choosing the part over a sitcom pilot that, in the end, was not picked up. She was a replacement for the previous Nikki, who had lasted six months. Over time, her character reformed and became an important part of Genoa City society, as she married "Victor Newman" (Eric Braeden). Scott has said, "It's a miracle for an actor to have a job last 28 years", although she finds it frustrating to go through periods when she doesn't have a storyline. In 1987, she was offered to play the role of "Taylor Hughes" on As the World Turns (1956), but turned the offer down.
Scott was parodied in the satire publication, "The Onion", in 1999, in which a picture was edited to show her holding a Daytime Emmy (that year, Susan Lucci won the Emmy after 19 nominations). The caption read "Awards Given Out Randomly To Skinny Blonde Women". She appeared on various game shows over the years, including Family Feud (1976) (with various "Young and the Restless" co-stars), The $10,000 Pyramid (1973), Body Language (1983) and Match Game (1990).- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Maureen Denise McCormick was born on August 5, 1956 to Richard and Irene McCormick. The youngest of four children, she has three brothers Michael, Dennis and Kevin. Her acting career began at age six when she won the Baby Miss San Fernando Valley contest, which opened up the glamorous world of acting to the future teenie-bopper. At age seven, her first role was in a play, and within a year, was a popular choice for TV commercials and sitcoms. In addition to ads for Barbie and Kool Aid, Maureen was seen on Bewitched (1964), My Three Sons (1960) and Camp Runamuck (1965). She also did voice-over recordings for a dozen Mattel talking dolls. For five years, Maureen was one of America's top teen role-models, admired by millions. When the Brady Kids became a singing group on the side, producers noticed her special talent for singing and encouraged the recording of a number of solo tracks, some of which turned up later on the LP "Chris Knight and Maureen McCormick". Years later, she would attempt to revive her singing career, with the 1995 Country CD "When You Get A Little Lonely". Maureen has appeared in many feature films, many TV guest spots and completed three films in the last three years, Baby Huey's Great Easter Adventure (1999) and The Million Dollar Kid (2000) and Dogtown (1997). She currently pursues her career and keeps her friends and family first priority. Maureen is married to Michael Cummings and together they have a daughter, Natalie.- Actress
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Shannon Tweed was born in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. She rose to stardom as Miss November 1981 for Playboy magazine. In 1982, Shannon began her film career and also appeared in the soap opera Falcon Crest (1981). She became Playmate of the Year in 1982. She was briefly involved with Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner but has carried on a long-term relationship with KISS member Gene Simmons since 1983. Tweed and Simmons married in 2011. She has become somewhat of a "B" movie "queen", appearing in numerous low-budget "erotic thrillers" and adventure films. She and Simmons have two children, a son named Nicolas (b. 1989) and a daughter Sophie (b.1992).- Actress
- Producer
Melanie Griffith was born on August 9, 1957 in New York City, to then model/future actress Tippi Hedren and former child actor turned advertising executive Peter Griffith. Her parents' marriage ended when she was four years old and Tippi brought Melanie to Los Angeles to get a new start. Tippi caught the eye of the great director Alfred Hitchcock, who gave her starring roles in The Birds (1963) and Marnie (1964). She married her then-agent, Noel Marshall, in 1964 (they divorced in 1982), and Melanie grew up with three stepbrothers. Meanwhile, her father married Nanita Greene and had two more children: Tracy Griffith and Clay A. Griffith.
Melanie also grew up with tigers and lions, as Tippi and Noel were raising them for the movie Roar (1981), in which the family later starred. Melanie's acting career, however, began as a model at just nine months old in a commercial and she later appeared as an extra in Smith! (1969) and The Harrad Experiment (1973), where she fell in love with her mother's co-star, Don Johnson. She was only 14 years old, while he was a 22-year-old with two annulled marriages. Tippi took a very liberal approach and allowed Melanie to move in with Don at a tender age. Even though Melanie didn't like modeling, she continued to do it to pay the bills. One day she went to meet with director Arthur Penn for what she thought was a modeling assignment. It was actually an audition for his film Night Moves (1975), and Penn gave her the role of a runaway nymphet. She was hesitant, but Johnson encouraged her to take the role. She agreed but was terrified of performing in front of the camera. Penn took a paternal interest in her, and she felt confident and gave a riveting performance, doing racy nude scenes. It immediately typecast her and led to more nymphet roles, with her beautiful nude body a permanent fixture in movies like Ha-Gan (1977) and Joyride (1977). She also married Johnson, eloping in 1976, but the union ended within six months.
Unfortunately, as her career progressed, she became increasingly dependent on drugs and alcohol, a fact well-known to studio executives, who stopped considering her for feature film roles. Melanie started doing television work, where she met her second husband, Steven Bauer, on the set of the TV movie She's in the Army Now (1981). He helped her to overcome her drug and alcohol problems and got her to take acting classes with Stella Adler in New York. The classes paid off, as director Brian De Palma cast her as a porno actress in his murder mystery Body Double (1984) and her sexy, funny performance won her rave reviews and the Best Supporting Actress Award by the National Society of Film Critics and a Golden Globe nomination. Jonathan Demme was so impressed with her performance that he gave her the female lead in Something Wild (1986) without even auditioning her. The film was a commercial failure but quickly became a cult favorite on video and cable, with Melanie again getting critical plaudits and a Golden Globe nomination.
The birth of her first child, Alexander, in 1985, didn't help to save her struggling marriage, and she and Bauer separated shortly thereafter. Melanie was given starring roles in Cherry 2000 (1987) and Stormy Monday (1988), but the films were barely released. Soon writers were asking when the public at large was going to take notice of this unique and talented actress. Melanie's career skyrocketed when Mike Nichols cast her as spunky secretary Tess McGill in Working Girl (1988), a box-office hit for which she received an Oscar nomination as Best Actress and won the Golden Globe Award as Best Actress in a Comedy. However, her ongoing substance abuse had almost destroyed her career yet again, and Nichols pushed her into a rehabilitation clinic. En route to the clinic she called ex-husband Johnson for support, and they reconciled after her release from the clinic. She got pregnant, divorced Bauer and remarried Johnson in 1989, and later that year their daughter Dakota Johnson was born. A sober Melanie now concentrated on her film career: her follow-up to "Working Girl" was John Schlesinger's Hitchcockian urban thriller Pacific Heights (1990). It was a moderate success, but most of the films she chose flopped badly, especially The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), which reunited her with director Brian De Palma. Even though she gave heartfelt performances in all her films, she was often miscast, with her breathy little-girl voice not helping matters in her role as a spy in Shining Through (1992) and as a homicide detective going undercover in the Hassidic Jewish community in New York City in A Stranger Among Us (1992).
Melanie was charming as a street hooker who befriends a group of elementary students in Milk Money (1994), but the film received negative reviews and performed dismally at the box office. She made a minor comeback with the critics for her supporting role as a desperate housewife in Nobody's Fool (1994), which reunited her with Bruce Willis, her co-star in "Bonfire", and Paul Newman, her co-star from The Drowning Pool (1975). She also earned a Golden Globe nomination for her work in the well-received TV miniseries Buffalo Girls (1995), followed by another hit film, the ensemble Now and Then (1995). Her personal life was making headlines again, though, as she left Johnson because of his own substance-abuse problems, reconciled with him briefly when he became sober, only to leave him again, this time for Antonio Banderas, her married co-star from Two Much (1995). Both she and Banderas created a scandal in 1995 with their torrid romance, and the tabloids followed their every move, including her divorce from Johnson and his divorce from wife Ana Leza. Melanie became pregnant with her third child, and she and Banderas married in 1996. Their daughter Stella Banderas was born, and the notorious couple were forgiven by the public and the media.
Melanie won strong reviews in independent films like Another Day in Paradise (1998), where she played a heroin-using criminal accomplice on the run, and the made-for-cable movie RKO 281 (1999), in which she portrayed actress Marion Davies, a part that garnered her Golden Globe and Emmy nominations as Best Supporting Actress. Melanie became dependent to pain killers, however, returning to rehab in 2000. She wrote about her struggle and recovery in her journal on her official website. Greenmoon Productions, the production company that she formed with Banderas, produced several flops, such as her starring vehicle Crazy in Alabama (1999), directed by Banderas. Her career took another blow when her TV series, Me & George (1998), never even aired. After making Cecil B. Demented (2000) and Forever Lulu (2000), Melanie did a voice-over role in Stuart Little 2 (2002) and played supporting roles in minor films Tempo (2003), as Sylvester Stallone's girlfriend in Shade (2003), and as Barbara Sinatra in All the Way (2003) with Dennis Hopper playing Frank Sinatra, but none of these films made a ripple at the box office. As a result, film and television offers dried up.
In 2003, a resourceful Melanie turned to the Broadway stage, and packed houses with her turn as the murderess "Roxie Hart" in the musical "Chicago," for which she received a rave review from the New York Times theater critic. It renewed her confidence, as she had never sang, danced or been on the Broadway stage before. In 2005 she surprised viewers by playing a mom to two grown women in the TV series Twins (2005), which was canceled after one season. She tried to resurrect her career with another attempt at a TV series, Viva Laughlin (2007), but it was canceled after just two episodes. Melanie didn't act again for the remainder of the decade, because, by self-admission, she couldn't obtain any worthwhile roles. In 2009, she was back in rehab after yet another relapse, emerging after a three-month stay. Professionally, she was faced with more disappointment in 2012 when This American Housewife (2012), a Lifetime series that Banderas produced for her to star in, never aired. She went back to the stage in 2012 and played Scott Caan's mother in a play that he wrote titled "No Way Around but Through." She impressed Caan enough to recommend her to producers of his television show Hawaii Five-0 (2010). Since 2014, she started playing a recurring role as his mother on the show.
Also in 2014, Melanie filed for divorce from Banderas citing "irreconcilable differences" after nearly twenty years together. She never publicly discussed her reasons for the divorce, and she didn't promote her feature film Automata (2014), the final time that she acted with Banderas. It took a year for the divorce to be finalized, during which time, she and Banderas made one important appearance together at their daughter Stella's high school graduation. She also made another public appearance with another ex-husband, Don Johnson, on Saturday Night Live (1975) to support their daughter Dakota, who was the host for that week. Dakota was promoting her star-making turn in Fifty Shades of Grey (2015), thus carrying on the family tradition of being a film actress. Melanie maintains close ties with her three children and her mother Tippi Hedren. She is involved in various charities, including raising funds for Tippi's Shambala preserve, a refuge for wild animals. Melanie also runs a non-profit organization for benefiting burned children. Melanie is single and her children are living on their own, so she has devoted most of her time to seeking out acting roles.- Heather Thomas was born on 8 September 1957 in Greenwich, Connecticut, USA. She is an actress, known for Zapped! (1982), The Fall Guy (2024) and The Fall Guy (1981). She was previously married to Skip Brittenham and Alan Rosenthal.