Cindy Pickett (born April 18, 1947) is an American actress. She is known for her 1970s role as Jackie Marler-Spaulding on the CBS soap ''

Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. ''Guiding Light'' aired on CBS for 57 years between June 30, 1952, and September 18, 2009, overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio ...

'' and Dr. Carol Novino on the television drama ''

St. Elsewhere ''St. Elsewhere'' is an American medical drama television series created by Joshua Brand and John Falsey that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982, to May 25, 1988. The series stars Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd, and William Daniels as ...

'' in the 1980s. Pickett, however, is best known to audiences for her lighter turn as Katie Bueller, Ferris Bueller's loving and unsuspecting mother, in the 1986 American

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

movie A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

Ferris Bueller's Day Off ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' is a 1986 American Teen film, teen comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by John Hughes (filmmaker), John Hughes. The film stars Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara, and Alan Ruck, with supporting roles from Jenn ...

''. Other notable cinematic roles and performances include Valerie St. John, the leading role in

Roger Vadim Roger Vadim Plemiannikov (; 26 January 1928 – 11 February 2000) was a French screenwriter, film director, and producer, as well as an author, artist, and occasional actor. His best-known works are visually lavish films with erotic qualities, s ...

's 1980 film, '' Jeux de Nuit / Night Games'', and the heroic, tough-as-nails Dr. Diane Norris, executive officer of the under-siege, deep-sea scientific research station in the 1989 sci-fi-horror film ''

DeepStar Six ''DeepStar Six '' (released in the Philippines as ''Alien from the Deep'') is a 1989 American science-fiction horror film directed and co-produced by Sean S. Cunningham. Its plot follows the crew of the titular underwater military outpost, who s ...

''.

Life and career

Pickett was born in

Sand Springs, Oklahoma Sand Springs is a city in Osage, Creek and Tulsa counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. A western suburb of Tulsa, it is located predominantly in Tulsa County. The population was 19,874 in the 2020 U. S. Census, an increase of 5.1 percent ...

, daughter of Cecil Pickett, a director and drama teacher at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

. Pickett made a major departure from her soap opera image when she played the central role in the 1980 erotic film '' Jeux de Nuit / Night Games'', directed by

. It was a sexually charged role involving numerous nude scenes, however the film went unnoticed and did not boost Pickett's career. In the 1981 mystery/crime drama ''Margin for Murder'', Pickett played the role of Velda, Mike Hammer's (

Kevin Dobson Kevin Patrick Dobson (March 18, 1943 – September 6, 2020) was an American film and television actor, best known for his roles as Detective Bobby Crocker, the trusted protege of Lt. Theo Kojak (played by Telly Savalas) in the CBS crime d ...

) loyal and devoted secretary. She played "Jackie Marler" on the

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

''The

'' from 1976 to 1980, "Vanessa Sarnac" on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

weekly

TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

Call to Glory ''Call to Glory'' is an American drama that aired for 22 episodes during the 1984–85 television season on ABC. The show focuses on USAF pilot Colonel Raynor Sarnac ( Craig T. Nelson) and his family, living near Edwards Air Force Base, where ...

'' from 1984 to 1985, and she appeared as Dr. Carol Novino on the hospital drama TV series ''

'' from 1986 to 1988. Pickett had a supporting role in the 1987 mini-series '' Amerika'', which she then considered to be her "best part and the best showcase" she ever had. In 1991 she played the part of Addy Mathewson in the

TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a terrest ...

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

''Plymouth'', which at the time was considered to be one of the most expensive such movies ever made. Pickett portrayed the real-life Kay Stayner, the mother of a boy who was kidnapped for several years, in the dramatic

I Know My First Name Is Steven ''I Know My First Name Is Steven'' is a 1989 American television miniseries about kidnapping victim Steven Stayner. The two-part miniseries was first broadcast by NBC on May 22 and 23, 1989. Screening rights were sold to a number of international ...

''. TV series she has guest-starred on include ''

Riptide A rip tide, or riptide, is a strong offshore current that is caused by the tide pulling water through an inlet along a barrier beach, at a lagoon or inland marina where tide water flows steadily out to sea during ebb tide. It is a strong tidal fl ...

'', ''

Simon & Simon ''Simon & Simon'' is an American crime drama television series that originally ran from November 24, 1981, to September 16, 1989. The series was broadcast on CBS, and starred Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker as two disparate brothers who ope ...

'', ''

Magnum, P.I. ''Magnum, P.I.'' is an American crime drama television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator (P.I.) living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from December 11, 1980, to May 1, 1988, during its first-run broadcast on ...

'', ''

L.A. Law ''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher for NBC. It ran for eight seasons and List of L.A. Law episodes, 172 episodes from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. The series cente ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', '' The Pretender'', ''

NYPD Blue ''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble ca ...

'', '' CSI: Miami'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

Crossing Jordan ''Crossing Jordan'' is an American crime drama television series created by Tim Kring, that aired on NBC from September 24, 2001, to May 16, 2007. It stars Jill Hennessy as Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh, a crime-solving forensic pathologist employed ...

'' and ''

Burn Notice ''Burn Notice'' is an American espionage television series created by Matt Nix, which originally aired on the USA Network for a total of seven seasons from June 28, 2007, to September 12, 2013. The show stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, ...

''.

Personal life

Pickett dated Roger Vadim, who directed her in ''Night Games''. She met Lyman Ward when they played the parents of the teenaged protagonist in the 1986 film ''

''. They married in real life, and had two children, divorcing shortly after playing the parents of the teenaged protagonist in the 1992 film '' Sleepwalkers''. Pickett is a collector of

stereopticon A stereopticon is a slide projector or relatively powerful "magic lantern", which has two lenses, usually one above the other, and has mainly been used to project photographic images. These devices date back to the mid 19th century, and were a pop ...

cards.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pickett, Cindy 1947 births 21st-century American women Actresses from Tulsa, Oklahoma American film actresses American soap opera actresses American television actresses Actresses from Houston Living people Lon Morris College alumni