Brynn Thayer is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for playing

Jenny Wolek Jenny Wolek is a fictional character from the American soap opera ''One Life to Live''. The distant cousin of original characters Larry, Anna, and Vince Wolek, Jenny debuted June 1975, appearing continually until May 1986. Casting and character hi ...

on the television soap opera ''

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as ...

'' from 1978 to 1986, which earned her a

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...

nomination.

Career

Thayer is well known for her work on television. From 1978 to 1986, she played

in the ABC daytime soap opera, ''

''. Thayer assumed the role in August 1978 amid a contract dispute between

Katherine Glass Katherine Glass (born January 11, 1947) is an American actress best remembered for her television work in the 1970s. Early life Glass was raised as a Roman Catholic in New Haven, Connecticut."Kathy takes a day at a time" by Jon-Michael Reed, '' ...

and

ABC Daytime ABC Daytime (sometimes shortened to ABC-D or ABCD) is a division responsible for the daytime television programming block on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC Network and syndicated programming. The block has historically encompassed soap o ...

In 1986, Thayer left ''One Life to Live'' and began a career on primetime television. She starred in two short-lived dramas for CBS: ''

TV 101 ''TV 101'' is an American drama television series that aired on CBS from November 29, 1988 until March 25, 1989. The series stars Sam Robards, Brynn Thayer, Leon Russom and Andrew Cassese. Other notable cast members include Stacey Dash, Teri P ...

'' from 1988 to 1989, and ''

Island Son ''Island Son'' is an American medical drama television series that aired on CBS from September 16, 1989 to March 15, 1990, during the 1989–90 schedule. ''Island Son'' marked the return of Richard Chamberlain to a regular TV series since his ...

'' (1989 ‐1990). In 1992, she joined the cast of the ABC legal series '' Matlock'' portraying Matlock's daughter, Leanne MacIntyre, and was a regular cast member; she was previously a guest star in the 1991 episode "The Suspect". From 1997-98, she had a regular role in the '' Pensacola: Wings of Gold''. In film, Thayer co-starred in ''

Hero and the Terror ''Hero and the Terror'' is a 1988 American action film starring martial arts star Chuck Norris, directed by William Tannen. Produced by Menahem Golan, written by Michael Blodgett, and was distributed by Cannon Films. The film stars Norris as Dann ...

'' (1988) and ''Murder in Mexico: The Bruce Beresford-Redman Story'' (2015). She guest starred in a number of television shows, including ''

Moonlighting Moonlighting may refer to: * Side job, a job taken in addition to one's primary employment Entertainment * ''Moonlighting'' (film), a 1982 drama film by Jerzy Skolimowski * ''Moonlighting'' (TV series), 1985–1989 American television series, s ...

''; ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

''; '' 7th Heaven''; '' Diagnosis: Murder''; '' JAG''; ''

Cold Case ''Cold Case'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series. It ran on CBS from September 28, 2003, to May 2, 2010. The series revolved around a fictionalized Philadelphia Police Department division that specializes in invest ...

''; ''

Without a Trace ''Without a Trace'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Hank Steinberg that aired on CBS from September 26, 2002, to May 19, 2009 with the total of seven seasons and 160 episodes. The series focuses the cases of ...

''; ''

Castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

''; and ''

How to Get Away with Murder ''How to Get Away with Murder'' is an American legal drama thriller television series that premiered on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) on September 25, 2014, and concluded on May 14, 2020. The series was created by Peter Nowalk and pro ...

''. She had a recurring role in ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...

'' as Kylie Quinlan in 1994. In 2011, she guest starred on ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that aired on the network NBC from November 8, 1965, to September 9, 2022; the soap has streamed n ...

'' as

Susan Banks Susan Banks is a fictional character on NBC's daytime drama ''Days of Our Lives''. She was played by Eileen Davidson from November 4, 1996, to April 8, 1998, and again in 2014 and 2017. Susan is the eccentric mother of Elvis "EJ" DiMera, and on ...

. She portrayed the present day version of Lily Specter on '' Suits'', mother of Harvey Specter.

Personal life

Thayer is the daughter of Margery (née Schwartz) and William Paul Thayer, a former naval officer and business executive who was

Deputy Secretary of Defense The deputy secretary of defense (acronym: DepSecDef) is a statutory office () and the second-highest-ranking official in the Department of Defense of the United States of America. The deputy secretary is the principal civilian deputy to the s ...

(1983–84) in the

Reagan Administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following his landslide victory over ...

. She studied acting at the

Beverly Hills Playhouse The Beverly Hills Playhouse is an acting school with theaters and training facilities in Beverly Hills, California, and also in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City. It is one of the oldest acting schools and theatres in the Los Angeles ...

acting school. Thayer co-founded the charitable organization ZazAngels with actor

Michael Zaslow Michael Joel Zaslow (November 1, 1942 – December 6, 1998) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as villain Roger Thorpe on CBS's ''Guiding Light'', a role he played from 1971 to 1980 and again from 1989 to 1997, earning ...

and his wife, Susan Hufford, to generate funds for researching

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, Terminal illness, terminal neurodegenerative disease, neurodegenerative disorder that results i ...

(ALS or

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig ( ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941), also known as Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig, was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was ...

's disease). Zaslow died of ALS on December 6, 1998.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thayer, Brynn American film actresses American television actresses Living people Actresses from Dallas American soap opera actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Year of birth missing (living people)