Morgan Fairchild: Hottest Woman Of The 80's
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 the Screen Actors Guild.
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.
Morgan Fairchild and
Joan Collins co-starred in this 1984 ABC TV special
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 fund
at popular culture's blonde vs. brunette rivalry.[3] 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. -Wikipedia
