Nancy Stafford
Encyclopedia
Nancy Elizabeth Stafford (born June 5, 1954) is an American prolific character actress of stage, speaker and author, known for her roles in soap opera
s and television
. She came to prominence in the 1980s as Ben Matlock's (played by Andy Griffith
) law partner and friend, Michelle Thomas, on Matlock
(a role she played from 1987 to 1992), before she played Judge Bell on Judging Amy
. She hosted a syndicated TV series called "Main Floor" (1995–2005), a show about fashion and beauty.
Husband Larry Myers is a pastor. They have a daughter and grandson.
Her older brother Tracy Stafford
was a two-term Mayor of Wilton Manors and a five-term member of the Florida House of Representatives
.
, a suburb of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where she was raised in a Southern Baptist family home. In a 2008 interview with Christians in Cinema, she said she has been a born-again Christian, since she was 8. Long before she attended college, she thought attending her family's local church was full of hypocrisy. By the time she was a teenager, she had also lived a prodigal life, before she returned to Jesus. After graduating from Ft. Lauderdale High School in 1972, where she was a modest student, Stafford was also Miss Florida
1976, and the following year, she competed in the 1977 Miss America Pageant. She began her career working as a Public Relations
specialist, in addition, she worked as a top model in New York City
at the Ford Model Agency. Her career was going on strong, until she was also diagnosed with skin cancer, where she underwent successful surgery in 1978. That same year, she became a spokesperson for 250 commercials, before she began her career in acting.
In 1982, she moved to L.A., where her first guest-starring role playing the dual role of both Adrienne/Felicia Hunt on the Soap Opera The Doctors, the show she grew up watching. This one part led to other roles such as: Riptide
, Remington Steele
, Scarecrow and Mrs. King
, Who's the Boss?
, Hunter, and Quantum Leap. She also guest-starred on an episode of Magnum, P.I.
. In an interview, Stafford said that she wanted to work with Tom Selleck
, who also helped launch her career. Stafford joined the cast of the second season of St. Elsewhere
, as Joan Halloran, where she played the role for three seasons. She also starred as Patricia Blake on Sidekicks
, which lasted only one season.
Her biggest claim to fame on television was portraying lawyer's assistant, Michelle Thomas to Andy Griffith
's, Matlock, from 1987 to 1992, replacing Linda Purl
, who left after the first year because she was very unhappy with her character. Stafford, who'd been a fan of Griffith's, since the early 1960s, having been a six-year-old girl at the time, auditioned and won the role. She also recalled as a six-year-old girl her fond memories of Don Knotts
(best friend of Griffith's) in his movie The Incredible Mr. Limpet
. Before she played Michelle, she also guest-starred on the same show in 1986 where she played a call girl who hired a man feeling real guilty that he was, when her guest role was actually found guilty. According to a 2010 interview with the actress on On Screen and Beyond, there was a remarkable on- and off-screen relationship between Stafford and Griffith (despite the actor being too difficult to work with). She worked five years work with him, with the exception of Kene Holliday
, who was fired from the show, after the third season (due to his ongoing drugs/alcohol abuse). Clarence Gilyard
took over the role the following season. At the same time, her on-screen appearances on Matlock was reducing; therefore, she was unavailable to come to the set everyday, due to her busy scheduling and spending time with her new husband. She left the show for good at the end of her fifth season, to be more with her family, while moving on to other ventures. Around the same time, Matlock also switched networks (from NBC
to ABC
), and moved its first-run production from California
to her mentor's hometown in North Carolina
.
She also guest-starred in many shows in the late 1990s such as, ER
, Frasier
, Babylon 5
, Baywatch
and most recently, The Mentalist
. Additionally, Stafford played "The Lady in the Park" in the 2004 Award-Winning short film The Proverb.
She is also the best-selling author of many Christian
books such as: Beauty by the Book: Seeing Yourself as God Sees You; The Wonder of His Love: A Journey into the Heart of God, and her 2006 book, Mothers & Daughters Taking Your Adult Relationship to a Deeper Level.
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
s and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. She came to prominence in the 1980s as Ben Matlock's (played by Andy Griffith
Andy Griffith
Andy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...
) law partner and friend, Michelle Thomas, on 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...
(a role she played from 1987 to 1992), before she played Judge Bell on Judging Amy
Judging Amy
Judging Amy is an American television drama that was telecast from September 19, 1999, through May 3, 2005, on CBS-TV. This TV series starred Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly...
. She hosted a syndicated TV series called "Main Floor" (1995–2005), a show about fashion and beauty.
Husband Larry Myers is a pastor. They have a daughter and grandson.
Her older brother Tracy Stafford
Tracy Stafford
Tracy Stafford served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1990-2000. He currently lives in Wilton Manors, Florida, where he also served as Mayor from 1986-1990.- Family :...
was a two-term Mayor of Wilton Manors and a five-term member of the Florida House of Representatives
Florida House of Representatives
The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The House is composed of 120 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 156,677.The House convenes at...
.
Early life/career
Stafford was born in Wilton Manors, FloridaWilton Manors, Florida
Wilton Manors is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 11,632. Wilton Manors is part of the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010 census. Although the city is...
, a suburb of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where she was raised in a Southern Baptist family home. In a 2008 interview with Christians in Cinema, she said she has been a born-again Christian, since she was 8. Long before she attended college, she thought attending her family's local church was full of hypocrisy. By the time she was a teenager, she had also lived a prodigal life, before she returned to Jesus. After graduating from Ft. Lauderdale High School in 1972, where she was a modest student, Stafford was also Miss Florida
Miss Florida
The Miss Florida competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Florida in the Miss America pageant. Florida has twice won the Miss America crown.-Winners:* Assumed the crown after Miss Florida won Miss America...
1976, and the following year, she competed in the 1977 Miss America Pageant. She began her career working as a Public Relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
specialist, in addition, she worked as a top model in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
at the Ford Model Agency. Her career was going on strong, until she was also diagnosed with skin cancer, where she underwent successful surgery in 1978. That same year, she became a spokesperson for 250 commercials, before she began her career in acting.
In 1982, she moved to L.A., where her first guest-starring role playing the dual role of both Adrienne/Felicia Hunt on the Soap Opera The Doctors, the show she grew up watching. This one part led to other roles such as: Riptide
Riptide (TV series)
Riptide is a TV detective series that ran on NBC from 1983 to 1986, starring Perry King, Joe Penny, and Thom Bray. Riptide was created by Frank Lupo and Stephen J. Cannell, and produced by Stephen J. Cannell Productions. The main theme was composed by Mike Post and Pete Carpenter...
, Remington Steele
Remington Steele
Remington Steele is an American television series, co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on the NBC network from 1982 to 1987. The series blended the genres of romantic...
, Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Scarecrow and Mrs. King is an American television series that aired from October 3, 1983, to May 28, 1987 on CBS. The show starred Kate Jackson and Bruce Boxleitner as divorced housewife Amanda King and top-level "Agency" operative Lee Stetson who begin a strange association, and eventual romance,...
, Who's the Boss?
Who's the Boss?
Who's the Boss? is an American sitcom created by Martin Cohan and Blake Hunter, which aired on ABC from September 20, 1984 to April 25, 1992...
, Hunter, and Quantum Leap. She also guest-starred on an episode of Magnum, P.I.
Magnum, P.I.
Magnum, P.I. is an American television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from 1980 to 1988 in first-run broadcast on the American CBS television network....
. In an interview, Stafford said that she wanted to work with Tom Selleck
Tom Selleck
Thomas William "Tom" Selleck is an American actor, and film producer. He is best known for his starring role as Hawaii-based private investigator Thomas Magnum on the 1980s television show Magnum, P.I.. He also plays Police Chief Jesse Stone in a series of made-for-TV movies based on the Robert B....
, who also helped launch her career. Stafford joined the cast of the second season of St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood...
, as Joan Halloran, where she played the role for three seasons. She also starred as Patricia Blake on Sidekicks
Sidekicks (TV series)
Sidekicks is a 1986-1987 Disney Channel martial arts TV series, a spin-off of the original Walt Disney one-time special, The Last Electric Knight. The series starred Ernie Reyes, Jr. as Ernie Lee, the Last Electric Knight, and Gil Gerard as Sergeant Jake Rizzo...
, which lasted only one season.
Her biggest claim to fame on television was portraying lawyer's assistant, Michelle Thomas to Andy Griffith
Andy Griffith
Andy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...
's, Matlock, from 1987 to 1992, replacing Linda Purl
Linda Purl
Linda Purl is an American actress and singer, perhaps best known for portraying Ben Matlock's daughter Charlene Matlock in season one of Matlock.-Early life and education abroad:...
, who left after the first year because she was very unhappy with her character. Stafford, who'd been a fan of Griffith's, since the early 1960s, having been a six-year-old girl at the time, auditioned and won the role. She also recalled as a six-year-old girl her fond memories of Don Knotts
Don Knotts
Jesse Donald "Don" Knotts was an American comedic actor best known for his portrayal of Barney Fife on the 1960s television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, a role which earned him five Emmy Awards...
(best friend of Griffith's) in his movie The Incredible Mr. Limpet
The Incredible Mr. Limpet
The Incredible Mr. Limpet is a 1964 American live-action/animated film from Warner Bros. It is about a man named Henry Limpet who turns into a talking fish resembling a tilefish and helps the U.S. Navy locate and destroy Nazi submarines. Don Knotts plays the title character. The live action was...
. Before she played Michelle, she also guest-starred on the same show in 1986 where she played a call girl who hired a man feeling real guilty that he was, when her guest role was actually found guilty. According to a 2010 interview with the actress on On Screen and Beyond, there was a remarkable on- and off-screen relationship between Stafford and Griffith (despite the actor being too difficult to work with). She worked five years work with him, with the exception of Kene Holliday
Kene Holliday
Kenneth Earl "Kene" Holliday is a prolific American character actor of stage, film, and television, best known for his role as Ben Matlock's original private investigator, Tyler Hudson, on Andy Griffith's hit television series Matlock....
, who was fired from the show, after the third season (due to his ongoing drugs/alcohol abuse). Clarence Gilyard
Clarence Gilyard
Clarence Darnell Gilyard, Jr. is a former American actor and a current college professor who has been featured in movies and television since 1980. He is sometimes credited as Clarence A...
took over the role the following season. At the same time, her on-screen appearances on Matlock was reducing; therefore, she was unavailable to come to the set everyday, due to her busy scheduling and spending time with her new husband. She left the show for good at the end of her fifth season, to be more with her family, while moving on to other ventures. Around the same time, Matlock also switched networks (from NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
to ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
), and moved its first-run production from California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to her mentor's hometown in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
.
Other work
After her departure from Matlock, she became a world-renown public speaker, traveling all over from churches, colleges, universities, women's group to other businesses. During the last part of the 1990s, she appeared on Great Day America. She gained greater fame as the hostess of Main Floor, which was a talk show that was seen in over 40 countries, making Stafford, a household name. In 2008, she co-hosted the first season of Love, Marriage and Stinkin' Thinkin' alongside Mark Gungor.She also guest-starred in many shows in the late 1990s such as, ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
, Babylon 5
Babylon 5
Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on a space station named Babylon 5: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...
, 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...
and most recently, The Mentalist
The Mentalist
The Mentalist is an American police procedural television series which debuted on September 23, 2008, on CBS. The show was created by Bruno Heller, who is also the show's executive producer...
. Additionally, Stafford played "The Lady in the Park" in the 2004 Award-Winning short film The Proverb.
She is also the best-selling author of many Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
books such as: Beauty by the Book: Seeing Yourself as God Sees You; The Wonder of His Love: A Journey into the Heart of God, and her 2006 book, Mothers & Daughters Taking Your Adult Relationship to a Deeper Level.
Selected filmography
- SidekicksSidekicks (TV series)Sidekicks is a 1986-1987 Disney Channel martial arts TV series, a spin-off of the original Walt Disney one-time special, The Last Electric Knight. The series starred Ernie Reyes, Jr. as Ernie Lee, the Last Electric Knight, and Gil Gerard as Sergeant Jake Rizzo...
1986 - MatlockMatlock (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...
1987 - 1992 - Judging AmyJudging AmyJudging Amy is an American television drama that was telecast from September 19, 1999, through May 3, 2005, on CBS-TV. This TV series starred Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly...
2003 - The WagerThe Wager (2007 film)The Wager is a 2007 Christian drama film, directed by Judson Pearce Morgan. It stars Randy Travis, Jude Ciccolella and Candace Cameron Bure. It was based on the novel The Wager by Bill Myers...
(2007)