Jennifer Victoria Runyon (born April 1, 1960) is an American actress. She made her feature-film debut in the slasher film ''

To All a Goodnight ''To All a Goodnight'' is a 1980 American slasher film directed by David Hess and starring Jennifer Runyon and Forrest Swanson. Its plot follows a group of female finishing school students and their boyfriends being murdered during a Christmas ...

'' (1980), and went on to have supporting roles in the comedies '' Up the Creek'' (1984) and ''

Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, ...

'' (1984). She also had a lead role as Gwendolyn Pierce in the 1984 sitcom ''

Charles in Charge ''Charles in Charge'' is an American sitcom television series that premiered on October 3, 1984, on CBS. The series was a production of Al Burton Productions and Scholastic Productions in association with Universal Television and starred Scot ...

'' during its first season. In 1988, she portrayed Cindy Brady in the television film '' A Very Brady Christmas''.

Early life

Runyon was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, Illinois, the daughter of radio announcer and disc jockey Jim Runyon, and actress Jane Roberts. She has one half-brother, Scott, from her father's first marriage. Runyon grew up in various cities in the United States, as her father's disc-jockey career required the family to move frequently. The family eventually settled in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

when Runyon was 14 years old.

Career

Runyon made her feature-film debut in the slasher film ''To All a Goodnight'' (1980), about a group of school girls stalked by a killer in a

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...

costume. She was subsequently cast in a supporting role as Sally Frame on the

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

'' Another World'', which she taped in New York from March 1981 until February 1983. She had a small part as a student being given an ESP test by

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on '' The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on ''Saturday Ni ...

's character in Ghostbusters (1984), and starred in ''Up the Creek'' that same year, the latter of which she filmed over several weeks in

Bend, Oregon Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Bend Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, with a population of 99,178 at the time of the 2020 U ...

. She later appeared on television as Gwendolyn Pierce in the sitcom ''Charles in Charge'' (1984–1985), and replaced Susan Olsen as Cindy Brady in the television film ''A Very Brady Christmas'' (1988). She was a guest on ''

Beverly Hills, 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to by its short title, ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran ...

'' in 1991. In 1988, Runyon played the lead in '' The In Crowd'' and was in the pilot of ''

Quantum Leap ''Quantum Leap'' is an American science fiction television series, created by Donald P. Bellisario, that premiered on NBC and aired for five seasons, from March 26, 1989, to May 5, 1993. The series stars Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, a ph ...

''. She also starred in the comedy ''

18 Again! ''18 Again!'' is a 1988 American fantasy-comedy film directed by Paul Flaherty and starring George Burns and Charlie Schlatter. The plot involves a college student switching souls with his grandfather by means of an accident. The film is base ...

''. She also appeared in ''

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 ser ...

'' in the 1989 episode, "Seal of the Confessional" playing the character Kelly Barret alongside leading role Angela Lansbury. In 1990 she played a

supporting role A supporting character is a character in a narrative that is not the focus of the primary storyline, but is important to the plot/protagonist, and appears or is mentioned in the story enough to be more than just a minor character or a cameo ap ...

in the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

parody ''

A Man Called Sarge ''A Man Called Sarge'' is a 1990 American parody film, written and directed by Stuart Gillard, starring Gary Kroeger, Marc Singer, Gretchen German and introducing a young Natasha Lyonne. The humour is built on slapstick and verbal puns, in ...

'', produced by the brother of

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

Gene Corman Eugene Harold "Gene" Corman (September 24, 1927 – September 28, 2020) was an American film producer and agent. He and his older brother, Roger, co-founded New World Pictures. Biography Corman entered the film industry before his brother, wo ...

, father of her husband Todd Corman.

Personal life

Runyon married film and television director and collegiate basketball coach Todd Corman on March 9, 1991. Corman served as head coach of the Loyola Marymount women's basketball team from 1985 to 1995. He coached at Albertson College from 1996 to 2001. Beginning in 2001, he was the assistant coach of the women's basketball team at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degree ...

. The couple have a son, Wyatt, and a daughter, Bayley. In a 2014 interview, Runyon stated she was semiretired from acting, and instead working as a teacher; she also stated that she co-hosted her own cooking podcast.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Runyon, Jennifer 1960 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Chicago American film actresses American soap opera actresses American television actresses Living people