Happy birthday Jennifer Runyon, born April 1, 1960.
Jennifer Victoria Runyon is an American actress. She made her feature film debut in the slasher film To All a Goodnight (1980), and went on to have supporting roles in the comedies Up the Creek (1984) and Ghostbusters (1984). She also had a lead role as Gwendolyn Pierce in the sitcom Charles in Charge, from 1984 to 1987. In 1988, she portrayed Cindy Brady in the television film A Very Brady Christmas.
Heather Young (born Patricia Kay Paterson) is a former actress who is best known for playing the character Betty Hamilton on the television series Land of the Giants.
She began her entertainment career as a singer at Disneyland. In 1967 she had a number of small roles in shows such as the Batman television series and the courtroom series Judd for the Defense.
Her first experience of working with Irwin Allen was in the final episode of The Time Tunnel called “Town of Terror”.
She was in the 1972 TV movie Oh, Nurse!.
She was also in a two-part episode in Galactica 1980, appearing in the second part called “The Night the Cylons Landed”.
Happy birthday Annette O’Toole, born April 1, 1952.
Annette O’Toole is an American actress, dancer, and singer-songwriter. She is known for portraying Martha Kent, the mother of Clark Kent on the television series Smallville.
O’Toole was born Annette Toole in Houston, Texas, the daughter of Dorothy Geraldine (née Niland) and William West Toole, Jr. Her mother taught dance, something O’Toole learned at the age of 3. She started taking acting lessons after family moved to Los Angeles when she was 13. Her first television appearance was in 1967 on The Danny Kaye Show, followed over the next few years with guest appearances in shows such as My Three Sons, The Virginian, Gunsmoke, Hawaii Five-O, and The Partridge Family.
O’Toole’s first major film role was as a jaded beauty pageant contestant in the 1975 satire Smile; she got the role after doing an impression of a “dead cockroach” at the audition. She also appeared as Robby Benson’s character’s tutor/girlfriend in the college basketball story One on One in 1977. She co-starred opposite Gary Busey in the 1980 film Foolin’ Around. In 1981, she starred in the HBO onstage production of Vanities, as well as in the TV movie Stand By Your Man, which detailed the life of country music legend Tammy Wynette. Later on in 1982, she appeared briefly as Nick Nolte’s girlfriend in 48 Hours. That same year, she played Alice Perrin in Cat People, and then in 1983 she played Lana Lang (love interest to Clark Kent/Superman), and single mother of Ricky in Superman III. In 1985, she co-starred with Barry Manilow in the CBS television movie Copacabana playing Lola La Mar to Manilow’s Tony Starr. Also in 1985, she had a starring role as Ms. Edmunds in the original Bridge to Terabithia. In 1987s Cross My Heart, a romantic comedy, O’Toole had a leading role opposite Martin Short.
In 1990, O’Toole had roles in two ABC television miniseries. She played the adult Beverly Marsh in the miniseries adaptation of the Stephen King novel It, and also portrayed Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy in The Kennedys of Massachusetts, a role that earned her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress. She next starred in the 1992 NBC miniseries Jewels, based on the Danielle Steel novel of the same name.
In 1993, O’Toole starred in Desperate Justice as Ellen Wells. However, in 1995, she starred as Cheryl Keeton in the 1995 Lifetime television film based on Ann Rule’s true crime novel Dead by Sunset. She had a recurring role on the television show Nash Bridges (1996) and starred in her own series The Huntress (2000) as a female bounty hunter. In 1997 O’Toole starred in the TV movie Keeping the Promise.
In October 2001, 18 years after portraying Lana Lang in Superman III, O’Toole returned to the Superman mythos in the role of Martha Kent, Superman’s adoptive mother, in the television series Smallville. She remained part of the show’s main cast, though at times in the background, until the end of its sixth season. On January 19, 2010, it was announced that O’Toole would be returning to Smallville for at least one episode.
On November 22, 2010, O’Toole played the role of Veronica, a middle aged woman suffering from a severe case of Alzheimer’s, in season 3 episode 7 of the TV series Lie to Me. In March 2013 she appeared in Grey’s Anatomy as a school teacher who finds out after surgery she will die from cancer.
Remembering John Quade, born April 1, 1938 and passed away on August 9, 2009.
John William Saunders III, better known by the stage name John Quade, was an American character actor who starred in film and in television. He was best known for his role as Cholla, the leader of the motorcycle gang “The Black Widows” in the Clint Eastwood films Every Which Way but Loose (1978) and its sequel Any Which Way You Can (1980).
Quade starred in High Plains Drifter, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Every Which Way But Loose, and Any Which Way You Can with Clint Eastwood. He appeared in Papillon with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman.
He appeared in many television movies and mini-series including Roots and Dream West. Quade starred in two short-lived television series, Flatbush (1979) and Lucky Luke (1991).
He made many guest appearances on television shows ranging from Kojak, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Starsky & Hutch, The Dukes Of Hazzard (in the episode “Hazzard Connection”), Galactica 1980, Knight Rider (in the pilot episode “Knight of the Phoenix”), Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (in the two-part episode “The Plot to Kill a City” as a telekinetic supervillain), Roots (TV miniseries), The A-Team (in the episodes “There’s Always A Catch” and “Skins”) to On the Air.
Remembering Grace Lee Whitney, born April 1, 1930 and passed away on May 1, 2015.
Grace Lee Whitney was an American actress and entertainer who is best known for her portrayal of Yeoman Janice Rand in Star Trek. Her character was originally intended to be a major part of the series, however, she was written out after eight episodes. Whitney returned to the role for several cameo appearances in subsequent Star Trek movies, and featured in the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Flashback”. She had retained an active interest in Star Trek fandom, appearing in several fan films.
Born Mary Ann Chase, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, she was adopted by the Whitney family who named her Grace Elaine Whitney. She became a prolific actress in the 1950s and 1960s, debuting on the Broadway stage in “Top Banana” before going on to appear in the 1954 motion picture of the same name. She worked with Jeffrey Hunter in the film The Man from Galveston (1963). Whitney guested on several well-known television series including Bewitched, Batman, Cimmaron Strip, The Virginian, Mannix, and Gene Roddenberry’s own Police Story, co-starring DeForest Kelley. She also appeared in a 1998 episode of Diagnosis: Murder.
Star Trek Deep Space Nine’s episode “Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night” aired April 1, 1998.
Plot: After receiving some disturbing information from Gul Dukat, Major Kira seeks Sisko’s approval as Emissary to travel back in time to find out the truth about her mother.
Marc A. McClure is an American actor known for playing Jimmy Olsen in the Superman series of feature films released between 1978 and 1987 and Dave McFly, the older brother of Marty McFly, in the Back to the Future films.
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