Melody Anderson
Anderson in 2020
Born (1955-12-03) December 3, 1955
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
EducationCarleton University (BA)
New York University (MSW)
Occupations
  • Actress
  • social worker
  • public speaker
Years active1977–1995
Known forAll My Children
Flash Gordon
Firewalker

Melody Anderson (born December 3, 1955) is a Canadian retired actress, social worker and public speaker specializing in the impact of addiction on families. As an actress, her most high-profile role was playing Dale Arden in the 1980 adaptation of Flash Gordon. She later starred in the 1986 film Firewalker, with Chuck Norris. While singing, she also trained as an actress, leading to roles in films and television during the late 1970s and 1980s.

Early life

After high school, Anderson completed a bachelor's degree in Journalism from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. She served a brief stint as an on-air reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation before travelling to Southeast Asia and Australia where she worked as one of the first non-Australian female reporters working for a Sydney newspaper.[1]

Career

Acting

Returning to North America, Anderson's first national exposure was as a guest star in the 1977 series Logan's Run and as a "Sweathog" in a 1977 episode of Welcome Back, Kotter. She made numerous guest appearances on television, including Archie Bunker's Place, Battlestar Galactica, Dallas, T. J. Hooker, CHiPs, the pilot episode of The A-Team and The Fall Guy. She had recurring roles on St. Elsewhere and Jake and the Fatman.[2] She was the female lead of the NBC 1983 series Manimal.[3] She was a guest star in the Murder, She Wrote episode "Prediction: Murder" in 1989.[4]

Anderson played the female lead Dale Arden in Flash Gordon (1980) and Janet Gillis in Dead and Buried (1981).[5][6] In 1983, she played the title role in a made-for-television film called Policewoman Centerfold, in which her character, a divorced police officer, is fired after posing nude for a men's magazine (based loosely on the true story of Springfield, Ohio patrolwoman Barbara Schantz, who was subsequently fired from her job after posing nude in Playboy magazine in the early 1980s).[7]

In 1986, she appeared with Nicolas Cage in The Boy in Blue and with Chuck Norris in Firewalker.[8] She starred in the made-for-television movie Beverly Hills Madam (1986), which starred Faye Dunaway.[9] From 1992–93, Anderson portrayed Natalie Marlowe, and briefly her twin sister Janet Dillon, on the soap opera All My Children.[10] She starred as Edie Adams in the television film Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter,[11] opposite Jeff Goldblum as Ernie Kovacs and played the coveted role of Marilyn Monroe in the television movie Marilyn & Bobby: Her Final Affair (1993).[12] Her last television appearance was in 1995 as a guest star in the short-lived CBS revival of Burke's Law.[13]

Anderson has made appearances at genre conventions, such as the October 2009 Big Apple Convention in Manhattan.[14]

Social work

Anderson is licensed in California as a Certified EMDR Clinician/Therapist[15] and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in New York and California. She facilitates therapy groups at several treatment centers in the Los Angeles area.[16] An international lecturer and media spokesperson on addictions and the family, she has made presentations on substance abuse and other mental health-related areas of study.[17]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1980 Flash Gordon Dale Arden
1981 Dead & Buried Janet Gillis
1986 The Boy in Blue Dulcie
1986 Firewalker Patricia Goodwin
1989 Speed Zone Lea Roberts
1991 Under Surveillance Cathy Meadows
1992 Landslide Clair Trinavant

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1977 Welcome Back, Kotter Blonde Sweathog Episode: "Sweathog Back-to-School Special"
1978 Logan's Run Shelia Episode: "Carousel"
1979 Pleasure Cove Julie Television film
1979 Elvis Bonnie Television film
1979 Battlestar Galactica Brenda Maxwell Episode: "Experiment in Terra"
1979 B. J. and the Bear Toni Episode: "Wheels of Fortune"
1982 Archie Bunker's Place Cheryl Episode: "Gary's Ex"
1982 Dallas Linda Farlow Episode: "The Big Ball"
1982 T. J. Hooker Kate Nichols Episode: "Terror at the Academy"
1982 The Fall Guy Mary / Mary Walker 2 episodes
1983 CHiPs Emily Episode: "Day of the Robot"
1983 The A-Team Avon Episode: "Mexican Slayride"
1983 St. Elsewhere Nurse Jill Roberts 5 episodes
1983 Manimal Brooke McKenzie 8 episodes
1983 Policewoman Centerfold Jennifer Oaks Television film
1984 Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter Edie Adams Television film
1984 High School U.S.A. Cindy Franklin Television film
1986 Hotel Lauren Moffat Episode: "Triangles"
1986 Beverly Hills Madam Claudia Winston Television film
1986 Philip Marlowe, Private Eye Rhonda Farr Episode: "Blackmailers Don't Shoot"
1987 Deep Dark Secrets Julianne Wakefield Television film
1989 Murder, She Wrote Katherine Aaron Episode: "Prediction: Murder"
1989 The Hitchhiker Sterling Episode: "The Cruelest Cut"
1989 Final Notice Kate Davis Television film
1990 Hitler's Daughter Sharon Franklin / Mary Lipscomb Television film
1991–1992 Jake and the Fatman Neely Capshaw 6 episodes
1992–1993 All My Children Natalie Marlowe / Janet Dillon 61 episodes
1993 Marilyn & Bobby: Her Final Affair Marilyn Monroe Television film
1995 Burke's Law Alexandra Kohl Episode: "Who Killed the World's Greatest Chef?"

References

  1. ↑ Ackerman, McCarton (January 1, 2012). "Playing a Better Melody". The Fix. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
  2. ↑ Romero, Dennis (November 9, 1991). "'Jake' Gives Anderson a New Facet in Her Constantly Evolving Career". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  3. ↑ Scott, Vernon (November 5, 1983). "Scott's World;NEWLN:'Manimal's' Melody Anderson: Beauty and the beasts". United Press International. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  4. ↑ Parish, James Robert (1997). The Unofficial Murder, She Wrote Casebook. New York: Kensington Books. p. 180. ISBN 1-57566-210-8.
  5. ↑ Lopez, Kristen (February 23, 2019). "'Life After Flash' Acts As A Dual Celebration And Redemption Of Flash Gordon's Leading Man". Forbes. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  6. ↑ Dunning, Jennifer (October 10, 1981). "'DEAD AND BURIED'". The New York Times. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  7. ↑ Rosenberg, Howard (October 12, 1983). "Networks' orgy of sleaze and tease waxes hot". The Journal Herald. Dayton, Ohio. p. 35. Retrieved February 1, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Canby, Vincent (November 21, 1986). "'FIREWALKER'". The New York Times. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  9. ↑ "DUNAWAY TO PLAY MADAM IN NBC MOVIE". Los Angeles Times. April 3, 1986. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  10. ↑ Hart, Marla (June 17, 1993). "THREE'S A CHARM". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  11. ↑ Farber, Stephen (February 27, 1984). "TV NOTES; TRIAL FOR ERNIE KOVACS BECOMING A DOCUDRAMA". The New York Times. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  12. ↑ Scott, Vernon (June 28, 1993). "The likeness was startling when actress Melody Anderson walked..." United Press International. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  13. ↑ McKerrow, Steve (March 21, 1995). "He's back, and preserving law and order". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
  14. ↑ ""Don't miss Melody Anderson at Big Apple Comic-Con" Accessed January 18, 2010". Wizard World. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
  15. ↑ "Melody J. Anderson, LCSW". EMDR Therapy Network. Archived from the original on January 1, 2015. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
  16. ↑ "Melody Anderson". Psychology Today. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
  17. ↑ Melody Anderson, All-American Speakers. Retrieved September 3, 2012.
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