Actress. She is best remembered for her role of Joanna Loudon, the television wife of actor Bob Newhart on the television comedy series "Newhart" (1982-1990). Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she was a child model, did live television commercials for a local TV station while in high school, and was America's Junior Miss for 1961. She studied drama at Northwestern University, and worked as a weather reporter for the NBC station in St. Louis. She only appeared in two forgettable movies, "Nashville Rebel" (1966) and "Woman in the Rain"(1978), but appeared in several made for television movies and television series, including the TV series, "Return to Peyton Place" (1973-1974), "Days of Our Lives" (1974-1979 in the role of Amanda Peters), "Single Women, Married Men" (1989), "Gidget's Summer Reunion" (1985), and as Abby Bradford in the made for television special event, "Eight is Enough: A Family Reunion" (1987). She also appeared as a guest actress in numerous episodes of other television series, in such shows as Hawaii Five-O, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Cannon, The Rockford Files, Quincy, WKRP in Cincinnati, and Burke's Law. In 1995, she founded the America's Junior Miss Council. Active in charities, she was working with homeless women at the Los Angeles Mission just prior to her death. She died in her sleep at her home in Beverly Hills, California, from apparent heart failure and was discovered by her companion, John E. Cookman, Jr. The autopsy determined that she had been suffering from an undiagnosed condition called lipomatosis with fibrosis, which scarred her heart muscle tissue.
Actress. She is best remembered for her role of Joanna Loudon, the television wife of actor Bob Newhart on the television comedy series "Newhart" (1982-1990). Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she was a child model, did live television commercials for a local TV station while in high school, and was America's Junior Miss for 1961. She studied drama at Northwestern University, and worked as a weather reporter for the NBC station in St. Louis. She only appeared in two forgettable movies, "Nashville Rebel" (1966) and "Woman in the Rain"(1978), but appeared in several made for television movies and television series, including the TV series, "Return to Peyton Place" (1973-1974), "Days of Our Lives" (1974-1979 in the role of Amanda Peters), "Single Women, Married Men" (1989), "Gidget's Summer Reunion" (1985), and as Abby Bradford in the made for television special event, "Eight is Enough: A Family Reunion" (1987). She also appeared as a guest actress in numerous episodes of other television series, in such shows as Hawaii Five-O, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Cannon, The Rockford Files, Quincy, WKRP in Cincinnati, and Burke's Law. In 1995, she founded the America's Junior Miss Council. Active in charities, she was working with homeless women at the Los Angeles Mission just prior to her death. She died in her sleep at her home in Beverly Hills, California, from apparent heart failure and was discovered by her companion, John E. Cookman, Jr. The autopsy determined that she had been suffering from an undiagnosed condition called lipomatosis with fibrosis, which scarred her heart muscle tissue.
Bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson
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