Susan Sullivan Totally Explained

Everything about Susan Sullivan totally explained

Susan Michaela Sullivan (born November 18, 1942 in New York, New York) is an American character actress of stage, most known for her roles in movies, soap operas and television. The naturally blonde Sullivan is well-known for her roles as the sympathetic wife of Robert Foxworth and later David Selby as well as Jane Wyman's long-suffering niece-in-law then daughter-in-law, Maggie Hartford Gioberti Channing, on the popular 1980s soap opera, Falcon Crest (a role she played from 1981 to 1989), and as Thomas Gibson's snobbish country club mother, Katherine "Kitty" Montgomery, on the popular 1990s sitcom, Dharma & Greg.

Early career

While putting herself through college at Hofstra University, she worked as a Playboy bunny. She got her start in acting in the 1960s, playing opposite Dustin Hoffman in the Broadway play Jimmy Shine. She also landed a contract with Universal Studios in 1969, guest-starring on several shows. It was at this time, she played parts in daytime dramas. Starting with a part on A World Apart in 1970, she moved to a five year stint as Lenore Moore Curtin Delaney on Another World. Taking over the role from Judith Barcroft, Sullivan played the role from 1971 to 1976, and it was this role that first established her as a household name. Sullivan was tapped to play Charlton Heston's girlfriend Ann, a major new character written into the TV version of the film Midway in 1976. Susan played Dr. Elaina Marks opposite Bill Bixby in the Incredible Hulk TV Series pilot in 1977 and portrayed Poker Alice Ivers opposite James Garner as Bret Maverick in The New Maverick the following year.

Success and failure

An Emmy nomination for her role as Maggie Porter in the television drama Rich Man, Poor Man Book II brought her even more attention. Her role as Dr. Julie Farr in Having Babies, which was made into two television movies and later a weekly series, was much ballyhooed but, in the end, proved unsuccessful as a TV series.
In 1980, she wished to restart her career by appearing on the sitcom It's a Living. This role led to a successful audition for Falcon Crest. At first, Sullivan turned down the role, but accepted when the producers insisted.
Despite insistence from some fans of Star Trek, she isn't the same actress as Susan J. Sullivan, who briefly played a victim of a transporter accident in (1979).

Falcon Crest

The role of Maggie brought her back into the limelight and was her most successful role to date, appearing on the series from 1981 to 1989. Sullivan was nominated for 3 Soap Opera Digest Awards, but didn't win. She also had the wonderful chemistry with series' lead Jane Wyman, which mirrored their off-screen relationships, away from the set. When Sullivan decided to leave the show, the writers of the series had her exit in dramatic fashion, with Maggie drowning at the bottom of the family pool, the result of her wedding ring being caught in the pool drain. Until her character was killed off, Sullivan had appeared in every episode of the series (out of the 227 episodes produced, she'd appeared in the first 207). Sullivan was very devastated when on September 10, 2007, her longtime friend of over 25 years had died and she was so close to Jane, prior to her professional work on Falcon Crest.

Dharma and Greg and current career

Sullivan drifted out of the public consciousness again, with appearances on The George Carlin Show and the political drama The Monroes in the early and mid-1990s. However, it wasn't until a supporting role in the movie My Best Friend's Wedding (as the mother of Cameron Diaz's character) that ABC executives were interested in Sullivan for a part on a new sitcom, Dharma and Greg. She played the snooty country-club matriarch, Kitty Montgomery, on the series from 1997 to 2002 and gained a new audience altogether. (Interestingly, she was reunited with actor Mitchell Ryan, whom she worked with on Having Babies, who played her husband, Edward).
She also has a recurring role on Justice League Unlimited as Queen Hippolyta.

Personal life

She has never married or had children, but her partner for over fifteen years has been psychologist and author, Connell Cowan. She also previously dated, among others, screen icon Cary Grant.

Endorsements

From 1984 until 1996, she was the spokeswoman for Tylenol brand pain reliever. In 1998, she won the Jane Wyman award at the Arthritis Foundation where her former Falcon Crest co-star, Wyman, was a regular member.

Further Information

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