Morgan Fairchild Biography

Morgan Fairchild (born Patsy Ann McClenny February 3, 1950) is an American actress. She achieved prominence during the late 1970s and early 1980s with continuing roles in several television series, in which she usually conveyed a glamorous image. Fairchild has also performed in live theater and played guest roles in television. She is a board member of SAG-AFTRA.

Early life

Born Patsy Ann McClenny in Dallas, Texas, the daughter of Martha Jane (née Hartt), a high school English teacher who taught at Richardson High School (in Richardson, Texas), and Edward Milton McClenny. Fairchild has a younger sister, Cathryn Hartt, who is also an actress. As a younger child, she was seen on WFAA-TV's Mr. Peppermint Show with host Jerry Haynes. In her teens she was in the audience on WFAA-TV's Sump'n Else bandstand show. She auditioned three times to be in The Little Group, which was WFAA-TV's Sump'n Else show's dance group. While she was in her teens she was seen in several locally broadcast commercials on Dallas Fort Worth television stations. As a child, she suffered a bout of scarlet fever, which left her partially deaf.

Career

Fairchild's first acting job was as a double for Faye Dunaway during location filming for the film Bonnie and Clyde (1967). She took her new first name, Morgan, from the 1966 David Warner film Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment. Fairchild then moved to New York City, where she secured her first credited on-screen role as the maniacal Jennifer Pace in the daytime soap opera Search for Tomorrow from 1973 until 1977. From the mid-1970s, she began to make various appearances on episodic primetime television series such as Kojak, Happy Days, Police Woman, a few episodes of CBS Radio Mystery Theatre.

She played Jenna Wade in the soap opera Dallas for one episode in 1978. The character was later brought back, played briefly by Francine Tacker in 1980, and then by Priscilla Presley from 1983-88. In 1978, Fairchild made the television film The Initiation of Sarah and also had a recurring role on the sitcom Mork & Mindy. In 1980, she scored her first regular primetime role as Constance Weldon Carlyle on the soap opera Flamingo Road. Though the series had an impressive beginning, the ratings soon dropped and it was cancelled after two seasons. Fairchild was nominated for a Golden Globe award for her role.

After the cancellation of Flamingo Road, Fairchild continued to make guest appearances in a variety of episodic television series such as Hotel, Simon & Simon, Magnum, P.I. and The Love Boat. She also starred in the 1982 theatrical film The Seduction. In 1984, along with Joan Collins, she co-hosted the ABC-TV special Blondes vs. Brunettes, a one hour variety show that gentley poked fun at popular culture's blonde vs. brunette rivalry. In that same year she also co-starred in another primetime soap opera Paper Dolls playing modelling agency owner Racine. The series was cancelled halfway through its first season, but by this time, Fairchild was established as a television actress and in 1985 she joined the hit series Falcon Crest, playing the glamorous lawyer Jordan Roberts for a season. She also appeared in the miniseries North and South in 1985, and its sequel in 1986.

1985 was the year in which Jon Lovitz on Saturday Night Live created the "Tommy Flanagan, The Pathological Liar" character who claimed outlandish achievements for himself, culminating in the grand illusion that his wife was Morgan Fairchild. The obvious remoteness of such a possibility, and its mainstream comic appeal, was testimonial to the broad popularity and desirability of Fairchild at the time.

Fairchild continued to make appearances in films and television series throughout the 1980s, and garnered an Emmy Award nomination for her guest appearance in a 1989 episode of Murphy Brown. In the early 1990s, she was cast in a recurring role in Roseanne, as Sandra Bernhard's bisexual girlfriend Marla.

In 1994, Fairchild appeared in an unexpectedly campy ad campaign for clothing retailer Old Navy, with Joan Collins and other formerly familiar faces on television. Her reprised role as the over-the-top glamour vixen was so successful that the company created numerous sequels around her persona.

In 1995, Fairchild returned to daytime soap operas as the catty Sydney Chase on The City. She played the role for a year, after which she went on to appear in General Hospital. She also made guest appearances on the hit sitcom Friends (as Chandler Bing's mother, Nora) and was a recurring guest star on the sitcom Cybill as Andrea, a rival of Cybill Shepherd's character.

Through the years, Fairchild has also appeared in various theater productions. More recently, she starred in the role of Mrs. Robinson in the stage adaptation of the film The Graduate. She also fronted an international advertising campaign for the consumer tooth whitening product Dental White (YouTube).

In 2005, Fairchild appeared in the competition reality show, But Can They Sing? on VH1.

In 2006, she was cast in yet another of her "rich bitch" roles in the My Network TV series Fashion House, playing Sophia Blakely, a rival to Bo Derek's character, Maria Gianni. She has also appeared on the television series Chuck as Dr. Honey Woodcomb, the mother of Captain Awesome. She made another return to soap operas in 2009 when she had a guest role in the daytime series The Bold and the Beautiful.

In addition to her work as an actress, Fairchild has long maintained a strong role within the Screen Actors Guild, now SAG-AFTRA. Currently, Fairchild is a three-year board member of the Guild and has served on several diverse committees, including co-chair Legislative Committee, National Executive Committee, SAG-AFTRA Relations Committee, Commercials Contracts Committee, Honors and Tributes Committee (HATS), and Guild Governance and Rules Committee.

Personal life

Fairchild was married to Jack Calmes from 1967 to 1973. She dated United States Senator and later-presidential candidate, John Kerry, in the early 1980s. Fairchild said although she has no plans to marry, she has been in a relationship with film company executive, Mark Seiler, for over 25 years.

She is active in raising awareness of AIDS-related issues and environmental protection.

During the early 1970s Fairchild was kidnapped and held against her will on two separate occasions.

Filmography

Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1967	Bonnie and Clyde	Faye Dunaway's double	uncredited
1970	A Bullet for Pretty Boy	Small role	uncredited
1978	Escapade	Suzy
	The Initiation of Sarah	Jennifer Lawrence
1979	Murder in Music City	Dana Morgan
1980	The Memory of Eva Ryker	Lisa Eddington
	The Dream Merchants	Dulcie Warren
1981	The Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite	Stella Walker
1982	The Seduction	Jamie Douglas
	Honeyboy	Judy Wellman
1984	Time Bomb	Renee DeSalles
	The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood	Lady Marian
1985	Pee-wee's Big Adventure	Herself as Dottie
1986	Red Headed Stranger	Raysha Shay
1987	Campus Man	Katherine Van Buren
	Sleeping Beauty	Queen
	Deadly Illusion	Jane Mallory/Sharon Burton
1988	Street of Dreams	Laura Cassidy/Eva Bomberg
	Killing Blue	Lisa
1989	Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge	Mayor Karen Wilton
	The Haunting of Sarah Hardy	Lucy
1990	How to Murder a Millionaire	Loretta
	Mob Boss	Gina
	Menu for Murder	Paula Preston
1991	Even Angels Fall	Leslie
	Writer's Block	Magenta Hart
	Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady	Irene Frances Adler
1992	Just Deserts	Catherine Harcourt
1993	Das Paradies am Ende der Berge	Irmgard Hoelzl
	Freaked	Herself
	Based on an Untrue Story	Satin Chow
1994	Point of Seduction: Body Chemistry III	Beth Chaney
	Test Tube Teens from the Year 2000	Camella Swales
	Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult	Herself
1995	Criminal Hearts	District Attorney
	Venus Rising	Peyton
	Gospa	Sister Fabijana Zovko
1996	Dead Man's Island	Valerie St. Vincent
	Star Command	Cmdr. Sigrid Ivorstetter
1997	Moment of Truth: Into the Arms of Danger	Diana Astin
1998	Shattered Illusions	Angie
	Holy Man	Herself
1999	Nice Guys Sleep Alone	Lorraine
2000	Unshackled	Mrs. Rebecca Miller
	Held for Ransom	Mrs. Kirkland
2001	Peril	Terry
2002	Teddy Bears' Picnic	Courtney Vandermint
	I Was a Teenage Faust	Babylonia
2004	Knuckle Sandwich	Mrs. Simms
	Arizona Summer	Debbie
2006	Shock to the System	Phyllis Hale
	The Initiation of Sarah	Trina Goodwin
2007	Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story	Herself
2008	The Sno Cone Stand Inc	Cathy Wanton
2009	The Slammin' Salmon	Herself
2010	Life's a Beach	Felicia Wald
	The Steamroom	Sheila
2011	Boy Toy	Barbra
	Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2	Herself
	eCupid	Venus
2012	Spring Break '83	Mouth's Mother
	A Perfect Ending	Valentina
2013	Fighting Back	Cheryl
Television series
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1973-1977	Search for Tomorrow	Jennifer Pace
1976	Kojak	Allison	Episode: A Hair-Trigger Away
1977	Rafferty	Lisa Farrell	Episode: A Point of View
	Switch	Shelley Bloom	Episode: Downshift
	Rosetti and Ryan	Claire Blake	Episode: The Ten-Second Client
	Happy Days	Cynthia Holmes	Episode: My Fair Fonzie
	The Bob Newhart Show	Bianca / Linda	Episode: Grand Delusion
1978	Police Woman	Cheryl	Episode: Murder with Pretty People
	The Amazing Spider-Man	Lisa Benson	Episode: Night of the Clones
	Barnaby Jones	Felice Winters	Episodes: Daughter of Evil and A Dangerous Affair
	Dallas	Jenna Wade	Episode: Old Acquaintance
1978-1979	Mork & Mindy	Susan Taylor	3 episodes
1979	Concrete Cowboys	Carla / Kate	Episode: Concrete Cowboys
	A Man Called Sloane	Melissa Nelson	Episode: The Venus Microbe
1980	Young Maverick	Selene	Episode: Makin' Tracks
1981	The Love Boat	Jenny Boyer	2 episodes
1980-1982	Flamingo Road	Constance Weldon Semple Carlyle	38 episodes Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress " Television Series Drama (1982)
1982	Magnum, P.I.	Alex Houston / Catherine Hailey	Episode: Ki'is Don't Lie
	Simon & Simon	Alex Houston / Catherine Hailey	Episode: Emeralds Are Not a Girl's Best Friend
1983	Hotel	Carol	Episode: Hotel
1984	Paper Dolls	Racine	13 episodes
1985	North and South	Burdetta Halloran	TV mini-series
1986	North and South, Book II	Burdetta Halloran	TV mini-series
1985-1986	Falcon Crest	Jordan Roberts	29 episodes Nominated - Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role on a Prime Time Serial (1986)
1989	My Two Dads	Diana Thackery	Episode: Macho, Stupid Guy Time
	Murphy Brown	Julia St. Martin	Episode: TV or not TV Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (1990)
1992	Roseanne	Marla	3 episodes
1993	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman	Miranda	Episode: Pheromone, My Lovely
	Murder, She Wrote	Iris Novaro	Episode: Murder at a Discount
1994	Burke's Law	June Ward	Episode: Who Killed Romeo?
	Empty Nest	Zoe	Episode: Best Friends
	Diagnosis: Murder	Pamela Dorn	Episode: My Four Husbands
1995-1996	The City	Sydney Chase
1996	General Hospital	Sydney Chase
1995-1997	Cybill	Andrea Thorpe	4 episodes
1997	Head Over Heels	Mona DuBois	Episode: Gigolo Guy
	Touched by an Angel	Jackie Sykes	Episode: My Dinner with Andrew
	The Naked Truth	Herself	Episode: Bridesface Revisited
1998	Home Improvement	Herself	Episode: Mr. Likeable
	V.I.P.	Herself	Episode: Three Days to a Kill
	The Angry Beavers	Muffy Snootwell	Episode: Open Wide for Zombies/Dumbwaiters (voice)
1999	The New Addams Family	Lady Pretensia	Episode: Thing's Romance
1995-2001	Friends	Nora Tyler Bing	5 episodes
2001	Dharma & Greg	Jackie	Episode: Dharma Does Dallas
	7th Heaven	Merle 'Bird'	Episode: Teased
2002	Roswell	Meris Wheeler	2 episodes
	Providence	Gwendolynne Gold	Episode: Limbo
	Maybe It's Me	Big Kimberly	Episode: The Quahog Festival Episode
	That '80s Show	Cossima Blair	Episode: Beach Party
2003	Just Shoot Me!	Lily Barton	Episode: Pictures of Lily
2004	That '70s Show	Carolyn	Episode: Going Mobile
2006	Fashion House	Sophia Blakely	35 episodes
2007	Two and a Half Men	Donna	Episode: Young People Have Phlegm Too
2008	Men in Trees	Herself	Episode: Get a Life
2009	Nip/Tuck	Herself	Episode: Manny Skerritt
	My Name Is Earl	Carol	Episode: Friends with Benefits
	The Bold and the Beautiful	Dorothy	4 episodes
2010	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Claire Lockton	Episode: Bedtime
2008-2010	Chuck	Dr. Honey Woodcomb	3 episodes
2011	Bones	Bianca Chiverton	Episode: The Prince in the Plastic
2012	Happily Divorced	Jill	Episode: The Reunion