Indira Stefanianna

Indira Stefanianna (born Indira Stefanianna Christopherson; December 6, 1946), also credited as Indira Danks and Stefanianna Christopherson, is an American actress and singer of Icelandic heritage, perhaps best known for her role as the original voice of Daphne Blake on Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! during its first (1969) season.

Indira Stefanianna
Born	Indira Stefanianna Christopherson December 6, 1946 San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, singer
Years active	1968–2008
Spouse(s)	Rabindra Danks ​ ​ (m. 1969; div. 1980)​ [1][2]
Children	1[3]

Early life

Christopherson was born and raised in San Francisco, California, the daughter of Lorne Christopherson, who was from Manitoba, and her mother, Hrafnhildur (née Snorradóttir), who was born in Iceland.[4]

She and her mother would sing nursery rhymes together when Christopherson was a little girl, and she aspired to one day become a professional singer and actress.[4] After graduating high school, Christopherson studied voice and piano at the Peninsula Conservatory of Music, and attended two colleges: the College of San Mateo and San Francisco State University.[4]

Career

Christopherson has worked as a character actor, stage actress, and recording artist in addition to her voice work. At the age of 18, she moved to Iceland and had a singing career in several languages. After returning to the United States, she started her stage career by appearing in such productions as The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (directed by Andrei Șerban)[3] at The Public Theater, playing the character of Genevieve, and off-Broadway in Harry Ruby's Songs My Mother Never Sang (directed by Paul Lazarus) and Noo Yawk Tawk (directed by Richmond Shepard), in addition to several movie and television roles.[5] She made her television debut in 1967 as that episode's bachelorette on The Dating Game.[6] In 1968, Christopherson was cast as the lead in a film titled Reality, about a girl spending her weekend at a resort.[7] She appeared in the Prince Street Players' musical adaptation of Cinderella in 1972.[8]

She was also the original voice of Daphne Blake on Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! for the first season in 1969 before taking leave to move to New York with her husband, Rabindra Danks. Her replacement for the rest of the series (and various spinoffs and specials in the franchise through 2003) was Heather North.[9] Other voice work included the role of Princess Dawn in Here Comes the Grump, which she performed while also voicing Daphne, and providing voiceovers for Scholastic Media in Clifford the Big Red Dog and the series Your Community Changes Every Day (for which she won the DuKane Citizenship Award).[3]

Christopherson is also well known for penning and singing commercial jingles and songs. She sang in the AT&T jingle Reach Out and Touch Someone, with music composed by David Lucas, and won a Clio Award. She sang and wrote the song "Crystal of a Star", which was used as the closing song for the 1986 film Star Crystal.

Personal life

Christopherson married Rabindra Danks, an artist,[10] on October 24, 1969.[1] During their marriage they worked on albums together.[4] After eleven years of marriage, the couple divorced on October 31, 1980.[2] They had one son together.[3]

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1970	The Grasshopper	Libby
1973	Wicked, Wicked	Genny	Credited as Indira Danks[11]
2006	Universal Remote	Indira
2008	Knocked Down	Depressed Woman
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1968	Mayberry R.F.D.	Dorothy	One Episode: The Harvest Ball
	Here Come the Brides	Lu Ann	One Episode: The Stand Off
1969	Mr. Deeds Goes to Town	Role Unknown	One Episode: Wedding Bells for Mr. Deeds
	Here Comes the Grump	Princess Dawn	Seventeen Episodes, Voice role
1969–1970	Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!	Daphne Blake	Seventeen Episodes, Voice role (first season only)
	Stump the Stars	Herself	Four Episodes[12][13][14][15]
1972	Sanford and Son	Hat Check Girl	One Episode: Happy Birthday, Pop Credited as Indira Danks
1973	M*A*S*H	Lt. O'Brien	One Episode: Love Story Credited as Indira Danks

References

1. "Raul Danks and Stefania Christopher on the California Marriage Index". Familysearch.org. Intellectual Reserve, Inc. October 24, 1969. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
2. "Rabindra and Indira Danks on the California Divorce Index". Familysearch.org. Intellectual Reserve, Inc. October 31, 1980. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
3. Biography of Indira Stefanniana Christopherson
4. Lorensen, Hilda S. (October 31, 1980). "Stefanianne Christopherson performs in San Francisco". Lögberg-Heimskringla. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
5. "Indira Stefanianna Christopherson". Lortel Archives. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
6. "Orange Peelings". Woodside World. March 17, 1967. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
7. "Movie Being Shot In Cherry Valley". The San Bernardino Sun. July 5, 1968. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
8. "PRINCE STREET'S Special "CINDER-ELLA"". The San Bernardino Sun. October 29, 1972. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
9. North, Heather; Jaffe, Nicole (2001). "In Their Own Words" (Interview). New York, Los Angeles, CA: Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Documentary featurette from The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour: The Complete Series DVD bonus features.
10. "Art Show at Fashion Plaza". The Desert Sun. May 11, 1973. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
11. "Phantom Score For Wicked". The Desert Sun. February 24, 1973. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
12. "TV-Dial-O-Logue". The San Bernardino Sun. October 8, 1969. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
13. "TV-Dial-O-Logue". The San Bernardino Sun. November 24, 1969. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
14. "TV-Dial-O-Logue". The San Bernardino Sun. April 7, 1970. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
15. "Daytime in TV". The San Bernardino Sun. May 6, 1970. Retrieved December 14, 2017.

External links

• Indira Stefanianna at IMDb
• Indira Stefanianna Christopherson and Dean Pitchford in the Public Theatre stage production The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, photo taken by Martha Swope.