Leann Hunley (born February 25, 1955) is an American television actress. Although she has worked in numerous productions, she is perhaps best known for portraying Anna DiMera on NBC's ''

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 streams on the streaming service Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. The soap, which aired on ...

'' and Dana Waring on the ABC primetime soap opera, ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

''.

Early life

Hunley was born in

Forks, Washington Forks, also previously known as the unincorporated town of Quillayute, is a city in southwest Clallam County, Washington, United States. The population was 3,335 at the 2020 census. It is named after the forks in the nearby Quillayute, Boga ...

, and attended

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...

. Her father is a commercial fisherman and her mother is a beautician. She is the youngest of four siblings. Her previous occupation is an answering service operator. Leann has worked as a model and won second runner up in the Miss Hawaii pageant in 1977.

Career

Hunley's first television appearance was on '' Hawaii Five-O'', in which she played separate characters in two different episodes during the series' 10th season from 1977 to 1978. After appearing as an unnamed female Colonial Warrior in four episodes of '' Battlestar Galactica'', Hunley guest-starred on '' Mrs. Columbo'' and '' B.J. and the Bear'' before becoming a regular on the latter series' spinoff '' The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo'' from 1979 and 1980. Her role as Anna DiMera on ''

'' from 1982 to 1986 would win her an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

at the

13th Daytime Emmy Awards The 13th Daytime Emmy Awards were held on Thursday, July 17, 1986, on NBC to commemorate excellence in daytime programming from March 6, 1985 to March 5, 1986. The telecast, lasting from 3-4:30 p.m., preempted '' Santa Barbara''. Winners in each ...

for best supporting actress in 1986. For three seasons of ''

'', Hunley portrayed Dana Waring, Adam Carrington's wife. She appeared on Aaron Spelling's short-lived '' Models, Inc.''. In the first season of ''

Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college that ran from 1998 to 2003. ...

'' (1998) she was Tamara Jacobs, a high school English teacher who has a tempestuous affair with her student Pacey Witter. She also played Shira Huntzberger on ''

Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham ( Lorelai Gilmore) and Alexis Bledel ( Rory Gilmore). The show debuted on October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flag ...

'' in 2005, and has guest-starred in various comedy and drama series such as '' Just Shoot Me!'', ''

Strong Medicine ''Strong Medicine'' is an American medical drama with a focus on feminism, feminist politics, health issues and class conflict that aired on the Lifetime Television, Lifetime network from 2000 to 2006. It was created and produced in part by Who ...

'', ''

Raising Hope ''Raising Hope'' is an American sitcom that aired from September 21, 2010, to April 4, 2014, on Fox. Following its first season, the show received two nominations at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards. Martha Plimpton was nominated for Outstanding ...

'', ''

NCIS NCIS or N.C.I.S. may refer to: Law enforcement * National Criminal Intelligence Service, the predecessor to the Serious Organised Crime Agency of the United Kingdom * Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a United States law enforcement and intelli ...

'', and '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''. After a 21-year absence from playing the role, Hunley returned to ''Days of Our Lives'' as Anna on June 21, 2007, recurring on the series until mid-2010. She again returned to play the role of Anna DiMera for a story arc beginning in January 2017, and has continued to make appearances on the NBC daytime serial as of September 2022, while also playing the same character in the spinoff series '' Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem'' airing on the

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

streaming service since 2021.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunley, Leann Living people American film actresses American television actresses American soap opera actresses People from Clallam County, Washington Daytime Emmy Award winners Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series winners Female models from Washington (state) University of Washington alumni 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 1955 births