Morgan Fairchild

She played herself in the comedy films Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994), Holy Man (1998) and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007).

Morgan Fairchild (born Patsy Ann McClenny; February 3, 1950) is an American actress.

She took her new first name, Morgan, from the David Warner film Morgan - A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966).

Fairchild's first acting job was as a double for Faye Dunaway during filming for the film Bonnie and Clyde (1967), particularly in scenes where Bonnie is driving a car because Dunaway could not drive a stick shift.

She began acting in the early 1970s and has had roles in several television series ever since.

From the mid-1970s, she began to make various appearances on episodic primetime television series such as Kojak, Happy Days, Police Woman, The Bob Newhart Show, and a few episodes of CBS Radio Mystery Theater.

Fairchild began her career on the CBS daytime soap opera Search for Tomorrow as Jennifer Pace from 1973 to 1977.

Fairchild then moved to New York City, where she secured her first credited onscreen role as the maniacal Jennifer Pace in the daytime soap opera Search for Tomorrow from 1973 until 1977.

In 1978, she appeared on the primetime soap opera Dallas as the first actress to portray Jenna Wade, before taking a lead role on the NBC series Flamingo Road in 1980 (for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama).

Fairchild played Jenna Wade in the soap opera Dallas for one episode in 1978.

The same year, 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 canceled after two seasons.

Fairchild was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her role.

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.

Fairchild continued to make appearances in films and television series throughout the 1980s and garnered an Emmy Award nomination for her guest appearance in a 1989 episode of Murphy Brown.

She also starred in the theatrical film The Seduction (1982).

In 1984, she co-starred on ABC's short-lived television drama Paper Dolls, and then appeared on Falcon Crest as attorney Jordan Roberts from 1985 to 1986.

Fairchild has also performed in theater and played guest roles on television comedies, including Murphy Brown (for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series), Two and a Half Men, Roseanne, Cybill and Friends.

She is a board member of SAG-AFTRA.

Fairchild was born Patsy Ann McClenny in Dallas, Texas, the daughter of Martha Jane (Hartt), a high school English teacher who taught at Richardson High School (in Richardson, Texas), and Edward Milton McClenny.

Fairchild has a younger sister, Cathryn Hartt, who is also an actress.

As a younger child, she was seen on WFAA's Mr. Peppermint Show with host Jerry Haynes.

In her teens, she was in the audience on WFAA's Sump'n Else bandstand show.

She auditioned three times to be in The Little Group, which was the show's dance group.

Also during this time, she appeared in several locally broadcast commercials on Dallas-Fort Worth television stations.

In 1984, along with Joan Collins, she co-hosted the ABC-TV special Blondes vs. Brunettes, a one-hour variety show that gently poked fun at popular culture's blonde vs. brunette rivalry.

In that same year, she also co-starred in another primetime soap opera Paper Dolls playing modeling agency owner Racine.

The series was cancelled halfway through its first season, but by this time, Fairchild was established as a television actress.

In 1985, she joined the cast of the soap opera Falcon Crest, playing the glamorous lawyer Jordan Roberts for a season.

She also appeared in the miniseries North and South (1985), and its sequel (1986).

In 1985, 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 Fairchild's broad popularity and desirability.

In the early 1990s, she was cast in a recurring role in Roseanne, as Sandra Bernhard's bisexual girlfriend Marla.

In 1994, Fairchild appeared in an unexpectedly campy advertisement campaign for clothing retailer Old Navy, with Joan Collins and other formerly familiar faces on television.

Her reprised role as the over-the-top glamour vixen was so successful that the company created numerous sequels around her persona.

In 1995, Fairchild returned to daytime soap operas as the catty Sydney Chase on The City.

She played the role for a year, after which she went on to appear in General Hospital.

She also made guest appearances on the hit sitcom Friends (as Chandler Bing's mother, Nora) and was a recurring guest star on the sitcom Cybill as Andrea, a rival of Cybill Shepherd's character.

Through the years, Fairchild has also appeared in various theater productions.