Robyn Douglass | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 21, 1953 |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, model |
| Years active | 1978–1999 |
| Spouse(s) | Rick Halprin (m. 2000; div. 200?) |
Robyn Douglass (born June 21, 1953) is a retired American actress and model.
Early life
The daughter of an Army doctor and hospital administrator, Robyn Douglass was born in Sendai, Japan. She began acting while attending a Catholic girls' school in Mountain View, California.[1]
Career
Douglass's known acting career spanned 21 years, from 1978 to 1999. She was featured in the films Breaking Away, Romantic Comedy, and The Lonely Guy, and she had a recurring role on the television series Galactica 1980. Before all this, she had appeared on the cover of the December 1974 edition of Playboy.[2]
Her Life As A Man
In 1984, Douglass appeared in the fact-based made-for-television comedy-drama film Her Life As A Man, an adaptation of "My Life As A Man," an article Carol Lynn Mithers had written for the Village Voice. Her character, Carly Perkins, was an aspiring female reporter who sought a sportswriting job on a national magazine whose editor was infamously chauvinistic and she disguised herself as a man, using the alias of Carl Parsons convincingly enough to be able to get the inside story she wanted.
Legal disputes
Nude and erotic photos of Douglass also appeared in the 1981 edition of Hustler,[3] which led to her filing a lawsuit against the magazine. In the suit she claimed that the photos were published without her permission and portrayed her in a false light, including as a lesbian, which damaged her career as an advertising model. A jury ruled in her favor, but in 1985 the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed the judgment and ordered a new trial.[4] The United States Supreme Court let the order stand without comment.[5]
Marriage
On December 2, 2000, Douglass married criminal defense attorney Rick Halprin, known for representing high-profile clients, including Chicago crime boss Joseph Lombardo.[6]
In 2002, the Halprins sued Prairie Single Family Homes of Dearborn Park Association under the Civil Rights Act of 1968, claiming that the neighborhood association was allowing harassment of the couple because Halprin was Jewish. In 2004, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed part of a lower court's dismissal of the case on narrow grounds.[7][8]
Douglass divorced Halprin sometime before his death in 2013 and moved from Illinois to California, where she opened a bed-and-breakfast.[6]
In 2020, Douglass released an audio memoir Messages for the Future: The Galactica 1980 Memoirs reflecting upon her career while commemorating the 40th anniversary of Galactica 1980, detailing her career and life, produced by Daniel Earnshaw and published by Explore Multimedia.[9]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | The Clone Master | Gussie | Television film |
| 1979 | The Girls in the Office | Karen Heineman | Television film |
| 1979 | Breaking Away | Katherine | Feature film |
| 1980 | Tenspeed and Brown Shoe | Martha Gribb | 1 episode: "Pilot: Part 1" |
| 1980 | Galactica 1980 | Jamie Hamilton | Main cast (9 episodes) |
| 1981 | Trapper John, M.D. | Sheila | 1 episode: "Second Sight" |
| 1981 | Golden Gate | Candy Martin | Television film |
| 1982 | Partners | Jill | Feature film |
| 1983 | Romantic Comedy | Kate Mallory | Feature film |
| 1984 | More Than Murder | Eve Warwick | Television film |
| 1984 | The Lonely Guy | Danielle | Feature film |
| 1984 | Her Life As A Man | Carly Perkins / Carl Parsons | Television film |
| 1985-86 | Stingray | Daphne Delgado | 2 episodes: "Pilot" / "Orange Blossom" |
| 1986 | Lady Blue | Officer Sylvie Swenson | 1 episode: "Sylvie" |
| 1986 | The New Mike Hammer | Dr. Bosnowski | 1 episode: "Mike's Baby" |
| 1987 | Houston Knights | Lt. Joanne Beaumont | 2 episodes: "Mirrors" / "North of the Border" |
| 1993 | Freeze Frame | Victoria Case | Television film |
References
- ↑ People, Barbara Kleban Mills (March 19, 1984), "Robyn Douglass Proves That Clothes Make the Man in a TV-Movie Tootsie", accessed December 12, 2010.
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ↑ "ImageBam". Imagebam.com. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
- ↑ "Robyn Douglass, Plaintiff-Appellee-Cross-Appellant, v. Hustler Magazine, Inc., Defendant-Appellant-Cross-Appellee, and Augustin Gregory, Defendant., 769 F.2d 1128". Vlex.com. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
- ↑ "Retrial is ordered in actress Robyn Douglass' false light invasion of privacy claim against Hustler magazine for unauthorized publication of nude photographs; United States Supreme Court lets stand Federal Court of Appeals decision reversing damage award to Douglass" (PDF). Elr.carolon.net. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
- 1 2 Sobol, Rosemary Regina (2013-06-04). "'Passionate' mob defense lawyer dies of apparent suicide". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 2021-07-07. Retrieved 2022-05-15.
- ↑ "Robyn Halprin and Rick Halprin, Plaintiffs-appellants, v. the Prairie Single Family Homes of Dearborn Park Association, et al., Defendants-appellees". Cases.justia.com. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
- ↑ "Post-Acquisition Harassment and the Scope of the Fair Housing Act" (PDF). Alabamalawreview.org. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
- ↑ "Messages for the Future: The Galactica 1980 Memoirs". Amazon.
