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Ever-radiant TV and film actor Susan Blakely found success on several paths she chose for herself over the years -- first as a model, then as an award-winning actress, and as a jewelry designer. The trim and trendy blonde is best known for enhancing a stream of popular films during the 1970s and 1980s.

Born on September 7, 1948, in Frankfurt, Germany, Susan is the daughter of U.S. Army Colonel Lawrence Blakely. While growing up, she traveled extensively throughout the world with her family including Korea, Hawaii and, finally, Texas. Following a year of study at the University of Texas, Susan moved to New York and secured a place for herself as a magazine and TV ad model for the Ford Modeling Agency.

At the same time, Susan was encouraged to try her hand at acting and studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse. Married in 1969 to lawyer and screenwriting hopeful Todd Merer, they moved to Hollywood to seek their fame and fortune.

Billed initially as Susie Blakely, she was cast in such films as Savages (1972) (her debut) and The Way We Were (1973). Her first popular movie role came about surrounded by an all-star cast in Irwin Allen's epic disaster The Towering Inferno (1974), as the spoiled princess-like daughter of unscrupulous skyscraper builder William Holden and wife of callous, pretty-boy opportunist Richard Chamberlain. Susan willingly accepted the challenge of proving herself in Hollywood as more than just another starlet with a gorgeous face.

She did .. .and became a prominent name in Hollywood to boot ... by earning a Golden Globe and Emmy nomination for her exceptional work as "Julie Prescott" in the acclaimed TV mini-series epic Rich Man, Poor Man (1976) with both Peter Strauss and Nick Nolte vying for her attention. It was star-making for all three leads.

This monumental acting opportunity kicked off a highly rewarding career in TV mini-movies, playing an array of flawed but fascinating and newsworthy ladies, including Hitler's mistress Eva Braun opposite Anthony Hopkins in The Bunker (1981); tormented actress Frances Farmer in Will There Really Be a Morning? (1983); political wife Joan Bennett Kennedy in The Ted Kennedy Jr. Story (1986); and crime attorney Leslie Abramson in Honor Thy Father and Mother: The True Story of the Menendez Murders (1994). A few other interesting roles came in as well that belied Susan's glossy, pretty-girl image -- ranging from an amphetamine addict in the TV movie A Cry for Love (1980) to a housewife who changes into a werewolf in the movie My Mom's a Werewolf (1989).

Into the millennium, Susan accomplished a prime, award-winning role in Hungry Hearts (2002). Other films have included co-star/featured roles in The Cherokee Strip (1937), Crash Point Zero (2001), Mating Dance (2008), The Genesis Code (2010), and Displacement (2016), as well as several short films of director Marc Saltarelli -- To Comfort You (2009), Pride (2011) Remember to Breathe (2013) and Speak (2016).

Having starred on stage in the 2006 world premiere of "Diva!" at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, Susan has guest-starred on several popular TV programs including "Diagnosis Murder," "Baywatch," "Strong Medicine," "Cold Case," "Nip/Tuck," "Murder 101," "Two and a Half Men," "Brothers and Sisters," "NCIS" and "This Is Us."

In recent years, Susan has broadened her horizons once again as a jewelry designer...and once again she has met this challenge with great success. Divorced from her first husband in the 1970s, Susan remarried in 1982. Her present husband, media consultant, litigation and political adviser Steve Jaffe, has also reaped rewards as a film and television producer. Many of his projects have included Susan -- the afore-mentioned Frances Farmer TV biography, the TV-movie A Cry for Love (1980), and the film Russian Holiday (1993) [aka Russian Roulette]. They reside in the Beverly Hills area.

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Susan Blakely

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