Early life

Easterbrook was born in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 and adopted by a family in rural Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

, where she was raised. Her father later earned a Ph.D and became a voice/trumpet professor at University of Nebraska at Kearney

University of Nebraska at Kearney

The University of Nebraska at Kearney , founded in 1905 as the Nebraska State Normal School at Kearney, is the Kearney, Nebraska, United States campus of the University of Nebraska system.-History:...

. He prepared her for operatic roles and coached her in trumpet playing for Laverne & Shirley.

Career

Easterbrook has become a familiar face to American audiences, with about a dozen feature films and over 300 television episodes to her credit. She first became famous as Rhonda Lee, the Marilyn-Monroe-like neighbor of Laverne & Shirley

Laverne & Shirley

Laverne & Shirley is an American television situation comedy that ran on ABC from January 26, 1976, to May 10, 1983...

. But the role for which she is most widely known is that of Sergeant (later Lieutenant, then Captain) Debbie Callahan, the no-nonsense blonde bombshell in the popular Police Academy movie series. Among the television shows in which Leslie has appeared are Murder, She Wrote

Murder, She Wrote

Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...

, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper

Hangin' with Mr. Cooper

Hangin' with Mr. Cooper is an American television sitcom that originally aired on ABC from 1992 to 1997, starring Mark Curry and Holly Robinson. The show took place in Curry's hometown of Oakland, California. Hangin' with Mr. Cooper was produced by Jeff Franklin Productions, in association with...

, Baywatch

Baywatch

Baywatch is an American action drama series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, starring David Hasselhoff. The show ran in its original title and format from 1989 to 1999, sans the 1990-1991 season, of which it was not in production...

, Matlock

Matlock (TV series)

Matlock is an American television legal drama, starring Andy Griffith in the title role of attorney Ben Matlock. The show originally aired from September 23, 1986 to May 8, 1992 on NBC, where it replaced The A-Team, then from November 5, 1992 until May 7, 1995 on ABC.The show's format was similar...

, Hunter, and The Dukes of Hazzard

The Dukes of Hazzard

The Dukes of Hazzard is an American television series that aired on the CBS television network from 1979 to 1985.The series was inspired by the 1975 film Moonrunners, which was also created by Gy Waldron and had many identical or similar character names and concepts.- Overview :The Dukes of Hazzard...

. Soap opera fans will remember her as Devlin Kowalski from Ryan's Hope

Ryan's Hope

Ryan's Hope is an American soap opera, revolving around 13 years of trials and tribulations within a large Irish American family in the Riverside district of New York City. It aired from July 7, 1975 to January 13, 1989 on ABC...

. More recently, she's been doing voice work, lending her vocal talents to Superman and Batman: The Animated Series.

Easterbrook's vocal talents led to her being chosen to sing the National Anthem at Super Bowl XVII

Super Bowl XVII

Super Bowl XVII was an American football game played on January 30, 1983 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California to decide the National Football League champion following the strike-shortened 1982 regular season...

 and have landed her starring roles in musicals on Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 and throughout the country; she also recorded a song for the soundtrack of Police Academy: Mission to Moscow

Police Academy: Mission to Moscow

Police Academy: Mission to Moscow is a 1994 comedy crime film starring George Gaynes, Michael Winslow, David Graf, and Claire Forlani . It is the seventh and final film in the Police Academy series. It was directed by Alan Metter and written by Randolph Davis and Michele S...

. She was also a frequent panelist on Match Game

Match Game

Match Game is an American television game show in which contestants attempted to match celebrities' answers to fill-in-the-blank questions...

in the 1980s.

An accomplished sports shooter, Leslie has put together a video, Real Beginner's Guide to the Shotgun Sports, the first in a series designed to encourage and prepare non-shooters for their first shooting experience. Leslie serves on the board of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, and supports a number of children's charities including Girls, Inc., The Sunshine Kids and Variety Children's Charities. Easterbrook is an NRA

National Rifle Association

The National Rifle Association of America is an American non-profit 501 civil rights organization which advocates for the protection of the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection...

 member and has served on the board of directors of the California Rifle & Pistol Association.

In 2005, Leslie replaced Karen Black

Karen Black

Karen Black is an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She is noted for appearing in such films as Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, The Great Gatsby, Rhinoceros, The Day of the Locust, Nashville, Airport 1975, and Alfred Hitchcock's final film, Family Plot...

 as Mother Firefly in Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects

The Devil's Rejects

The Devil's Rejects is a 2005 American horror film written and directed by Rob Zombie, and the sequel to his 2003 film House of 1000 Corpses. The film is about the family of psychopathic killers from the previous film now on the run...

, the sequel to the 2003 horror movie, House of 1000 Corpses

House of 1000 Corpses

House of 1000 Corpses is a 2003 exploitation horror film written and directed by Rob Zombie; it is his directorial debut. It was released in the United States on April 11, 2003 by Lions Gate Entertainment.-Plot:...

. Leslie's intense portrayal of Mother Firefly proved her to be an excellent actress and the definitive Mother Firefly as a result she has been dubbed "Unrecognised horror queen." Leslie was given the part of Mother Firefly after Karen Black demanded a higher salary, but Leslie Easterbrook took the part and made it her own, giving the performance a disturbing edge that Karen Black lacked. In 2007, she played security guard

Security guard

A security guard is a person who is paid to protect property, assets, or people. Security guards are usually privately and formally employed personnel...

 Patty Frost in Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween

Halloween (2007 film)

Halloween is a 2007 American slasher film written, directed, and produced by Rob Zombie. The film is a remake/reimagining of the 1978 horror film of the same name, the first in the rebooted Halloween film series and the ninth Halloween film in total. The film stars Tyler Mane as the adult Michael...

. In 2008, she played as Betty in the thriller/horror film House

House (2008 film)

House is a 2008 Polish/United States horror film, directed by Robby Henson, starring Reynaldo Rosales, Heidi Dippold and Michael Madsen. It is based on the novel of the same name by Frank E. Peretti and Ted Dekker. It covers the events that take place one night in an old, rustic inn in Alabama,...

.

External links