Christine Belford
Christine Belford (born January 14, 1949) is an American television and film actress. She has sometimes been credited as Christina Belford.
Christine Belford | |
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 Belford in 1973 | |
| Born | Christine Riley January 14, 1949 Amityville, New York, U.S. |
| Other names | Christina Belford |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1971–present |
| Spouse(s) | |
Early life
Christine Riley was born in Amityville, Long Island, New York to Joseph J. Riley and Mary Belford Riley (née Wilson; later Malone), [1][2] who later divorced. She has a brother, Terry, and a sister, Shawn. The family once lived at 112 Ocean Avenue, the location which later became famous as the setting of The Amityville Horror, for about five years from age 11 until age 16. As a young child and teenager on Long Island, she was active in equestrian trials and won many horsemanship awards. [3] "She was enrolled at the best schools and joined the best swimming and yachting clubs on Long Island." [4] After graduating from high school in 1966, she attended Hofstra University, initially interested in pursuing a career in psychiatry. However, the classwork she did with Joseph Leon, the head of the drama department, inspired her to become an actress.[3]
In 1970, after college she moved to New York City and did some modeling work but no acting. Additionally, she said, "In order to keep a roof over my head and to eat, I took any job I could get. I was a waitress, a bar maid, and I also drove an ice truck." [5] For both personal and professional reasons, she moved to Los Angeles near the end of 1970. There, at the suggestion of a friend, actress Carrie Snodgress, she auditioned at Universal Pictures, performing a scene from the film The Country Girl for the head of talent, Monique James. Christine then received a seven-year acting contract from Universal Pictures,[3] "A very precious commodity issued only to a chosen few." [6]
Television career
Her first appearance on television was as an extra on the Vince Edwards series Matt Lincoln. Her first credited appearance on television was in the NBC television movie Vanished in 1971. She played insurance investigator Carlie Kirkland during the second season (1973–74) of Banacek. She appeared in the 1980 TV-movie The Gambler with Kenny Rogers and also played Ricky Stratton’s mother, Evelyn on Silver Spoons and Jackie on Empire. [7][4]
She appeared in guest roles on many popular television shows of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, including Ironside, Banacek, Mannix, Barnaby Jones, Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law, The Six Million Dollar Man, CHiPs, Wonder Woman, Magnum, P.I., Hart to Hart, The Incredible Hulk, Family Ties, The Golden Girls, Blossom, Beverly Hills, 90210, Battlestar Galactica (specifically as one of the prison-barge inmates recruited to destroy "The Gun On Ice Planet Zero"), The Paper Chase: The Television Series, My Two Dads, Night Court (specifically the 1992 episode "Opportunity Knock Knocks," where she was credited as Christina Belford), Murder, She Wrote, Diagnosis: Murder and Quincy, Holding Pattern.
She appeared in the episode "Devil Pack" from the 1977 series Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected (known in the United Kingdom as Twist in the Tale),[8] as well as in various television films through the years. Her last appearance on television was in the horse-racing TV movie Ruffian, starring Sam Shepard and broadcast on the ABC network in 2007.
She played on Dynasty as the nurse for Fallon's baby at the end of Season 2 and Season 3. In 1983, she co-hosted, in Los Angeles, with Steve Edwards, Cathy Kronkite, and Ruth Batchelor, an unsuccessful pilot for a daytime-magazine series, Personal & Confidential, over five days (August 1–5, 1983). [9]
Film
- 2007 Ruffian (TV Movie) ...Barbara Janney
- 1991 The Woman Who Sinned (TV Movie) ...Randy Emerson
- 1986 The Ladies Club ...Dr. Constance Lewis
- 1986 Mr. and Mrs. Ryan (TV Movie) ...Margo Slater
- 1984 100 Centre Street (TV Movie) ...Fran Felt
- 1983 Christine ...Regina Cunningham
- 1983 Sparkling Cyanide (TV Movie) ...Rosemary Barton
- 1982 The Neighborhood (TV Movie) ...Meg Penner
- 1980 Desperate Voyage (TV Movie)
- 1980 Kenny Rogers as The Gambler (TV Movie) ...Eliza
- 1979 High Midnight (TV Movie) ...Sgt. Liz Spencer
- 1978 To Kill a Cop (TV Movie) ...Agnes Cusack
- 1976 The Million Dollar Rip-Off (TV Movie) ...Lil
- 1972 The Groundstar Conspiracy ...Nicole Devon
- 1972 Pocket Money ...Adelita
- 1971 Vanished (TV Movie) ...Gretchen Greer
Television
- 1999 The Wild Thornberrys ...Whale
- 1994 Diagnosis Murder ...Emily Bissell
- 1993 Blossom ...Nancy
- 1993 Step by Step ...Eileen Donovan
- 1992 'Mann & Machine ...Rose
- 1992 Night Court ...Clare Monroe
- 1991-1998 Beverly Hills, 90210 ...Samantha Sanders
- 1991 Who's the Boss? ...Ida Davis
- 1990 Yes, Virginia ...
- 1990 Dragnet ...Jean Reynolds
- 1989 Freddy's Nightmares ...Dr. Weiss
- 1989 Living Dolls ...Kitty
- 1989 Empty Nest ...Fran
- 1989 L.A. Law ...Lily White
- 1988 Murphy's Law ...Claudia Slocum
- 1988 My Two Dads ...Myra Young
- 1987 ABC Afterschool Specials ...Dr. Louise Warner
- 1986-1987 Outlaws ...Maggie Randall
- 1986 The Golden Girls ...Kirsten Nylund Adams.
- 1986 Family Ties ...Victoria Hurstenberg
- 1984-1993 Murder, She Wrote ...Missy Stevens / Maude Paulson Winslow / Fiona Keeler
- 1984 Empire ...Jackie Willow
- 1984 Goodnight, Beantown ...Allison
- 1983-1984 Fantasy Island ...Melanie Swan / Marion Robertson
- 1983 It's Not Easy
- 1982-1987 Silver Spoons ...Evelyn Stratton / Evelyn Stratton Whiting
- 1982 Dynasty ...Susan Farragut
- 1982 Cagney & Lacey ...Theresa
- 1982 Today's F.B.I.
- 1981-1983 The Greatest American Hero ...Dotty Parker / Sheila Redman, the Spirit
- 1981 Nero Wolfe ...Melanie Davidson
- 1981 Magnum, P.I. ...Adelaide Malone
- 1980 Beyond Westworld ...Dianna Lionstar
- 1980 CHiPs ...Denise
- 1979-1983 Hart to Hart ...Victoria Dickenson / Nikki Stephanos
- 1979-1981 The Incredible Hulk ...Leigh Gamble / Linda Calahan
- 1979 Dear Detective
- 1979 Married: The First Year ...Emily Gorey
- 1979 The Paper Chase ...Chris Carlyle
- 1978 The White Shadow ...Dr. Evelyn Crawford
- 1978 Battlestar Galactica ...Leda
- 1977 Quincy M.E. ...Sonya
- 1977 Tales of the Unexpected ...Ann Colby
- 1977 Most Wanted ...Jennifer Haron
- 1976 Wonder Woman ...Baroness Paula Von Gunther
- 1975 Harry O ...Karen Nesbitt
- 1975 Medical Story ...Hope
- 1975 Police Story ...Carrie
- 1975 Kate McShane ...Charlotte Randall Chase
- 1974-1982 Insight ...Karen / Kate / Kay /
- 1974 The Manhunter ...Cynthia Browning
- 1974 Doc Elliot ...Joy Neimeyer
- 1974 The Six Million Dollar Man ...Lt. Colby
- 1973 Jigsaw ...Gale Parker
- 1973 Cannon ...Anne Grainger
- 1973-1979 Barnaby Jones ...Virginia Kirkland / Louise Brenner / Eleanor Devers /
- 1972 Mannix ...Alison Bramante
- 1972 Alias Smith and Jones ...Ellie Alcott
- 1972 Cool Million ...Adrienne / Marcella Pascal
- 1972 The Sixth Sense ...Anna Harris
- 1972-1974 Banacek ...Carlie Kirkland
- 1971 Ironside ...Sue Broderick
- 1971 Matt Lincoln
- 1971-1972 Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law ...Jeanine Michaels / Karen Slater
- 1970-1974 Marcus Welby, M.D. ...Sandy / Phyllis Dalton / Lolly
- 1983 The Love Boat Fall Preview Special ...Herself
- 1984 Breakaway ...Herself
Voiceover career
From the 1990s to the present, Belford has done much voiceover work, including commercials, animations, promotional spots, and narrations.
Personal life
Belford has been married to actor Nicholas Pryor since July 1993.[10]
References
- "Joseph Riley's Obituary on The Capital Gazette". The Capital Gazette.
- "Mary Belford Malone".
- Pack, Harvey "Christine Belford: Starlet of '72" Sarasota Herald-Tribune (July 2, 1972) page 47 (also available online at the Google Books newspaper archive)
- King, Richard (January 19, 1984). "Blonde back to natural". The Index-Journal. p. 7. Retrieved August 23, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- Manners, Dorothy (August 3, 1972). "Christine Belford: Life Is One Big Smile". Evening Herald. p. 7. Retrieved August 23, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Christine Belford - She Can Act". The Kokomo Tribune. September 24, 1972. p. 56. Retrieved August 23, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Christine Belford Biography". Fandango.com. Retrieved 2018-12-23.
- Classic Television Archive: Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected (1977) Archived 2014-08-19 at the Wayback Machine, ctva.biz; accessed February 15, 2015.
- Terrace, Vincent (1985) "Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials" Verlag für die Deutsche Wirtschaft AG, ISBN 0-918432-61-8, page 325
- Staff, Hollywood.com (3 February 2015). "Christine Belford - Biography and Filmography - 1949".
External links
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