Even before her television breakthrough, she was someone who fought for what she wanted. She didn’t always fit the mold, but she kept showing up, and over time, she built a career on determination. Decades later, that same resolve would carry her through two life-threatening diagnoses that came just months apart.
She was one of the most recognized faces on television during the 1980s, a woman whose commanding presence made her a staple of American prime time.
Behind the polished roles and red-carpet appearances, though, was someone who would later face two of the toughest battles of her life.
She continues to defy expectations, not just in her career, but in the way she has confronted personal challenges with remarkable candor. Her story, quietly unfolding over the last two years, reveals how quickly life can change. It also demonstrates how strength sometimes shows up in the most unglamorous, private moments.
Long before she became a household name, she was a trained stage actress from New York trying to break into television.
After a stint on the soap opera “Another World” and a role on Broadway opposite Dustin Hoffman in “Jimmy Shine,” she relocated to Los Angeles in her early 30s to pursue acting on TV. At the time, that alone made her an outlier.
At one early audition for a small part on the crime drama “S.W.A.T.,” she found herself surrounded by “five perfect 18-year-old girls.” She was surprised that the director even took notice of her, but then he told her the role required her to appear in a bikini.
Without thinking, she joked that she probably wasn’t the right choice. She was from New York, and her body didn’t exactly meet the industry’s standards, as her thighs probably jiggled too much.
The remark cost her the part. Still, she kept returning to casting rooms, taking on whatever was available.
She landed guest spots, recurring roles, and eventually leads. Looking back, she described her timing as “extraordinary,” noting that she came up just as the women’s movement was beginning to shift the kinds of characters available to actresses like her.
She wasn’t cast as the stay-at-home wife and mother.
Instead, she played women with careers: doctors, lawyers, professionals. One show in particular would launch her into primetime recognition.
The story doesn’t end here –
it continues on the next page.
TAP → NEXT PAGE → 👇
