Indira Stefanianna (born Indira Stefanianna Christopherson; December 15, 1946), also credited as Indira Danks and Stefanianna Christopherson, is a retired American actress and singer, perhaps best known for her role as the original voice of

Daphne Blake Daphne Blake is a fictional character in the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise. She is a core member of Mystery Incorporated and is depicted as coming from a wealthy family. She is noted for her beauty, fashion sense, and her knack for getting into dan ...

on ''

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' is an American animated comedy television series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera for CBS. The series premiered as part of the network's Saturday morning cartoon schedule on Septem ...

'' during its first (1969) season.

Early life

Christopherson was born and raised in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, the daughter of father Lorne Christopherson, who was from

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, Canada and mother Hrafnhildur (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Snorradóttir), who was born in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. She and her mother would sing

nursery rhymes A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. Fro ...

together when Christopherson was a little girl, and she aspired to one day become a professional singer and actress. After graduating high school, Christopherson studied voice and piano at the Peninsula Conservatory of Music, and attended two colleges: the

College of San Mateo College of San Mateo (CSM) is a public community college in San Mateo, California. It is part of the San Mateo County Community College District. College of San Mateo is located at the northern corridor of Silicon Valley and situated on a 153-a ...

and

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

Career

Christopherson has worked as a character actor, stage actress, and recording artist in addition to her voice work. At the age of 18, she moved to Iceland and had a singing career in several languages. After returning to the United States, she started her stage career by appearing in such productions as ''The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'' (directed by

Andrei Șerban Andrei Șerban (born June 21, 1943) is a Romanian-United States, American theater director. A major name in twentieth-century theater, he is renowned for his innovative and iconoclastic interpretations and stagings. In 1992 he became Professor of ...

) at

The Public Theater The Public Theater is an arts organization in New York City. Founded by Joseph Papp, The Public Theater was originally the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954; its mission was to support emerging playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: ...

, playing the character of Genevieve, and

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

Harry Ruby Harry Rubenstein (January 27, 1895 – February 23, 1974), known professionally as Harry Ruby, was an American pianist, composer, songwriter and screenwriter, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.Paul Lazarus Paul Lazarus (born October 25) is an American director, producer and writer of film, television and theatre. He graduated from Dartmouth College, and apprenticed with the Royal Shakespeare Company in England.The Dating Game ''The Dating Game'' is an American television game show that first aired on December 20, 1965, and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s. ABC dropped the show on July 6, 1973, but it ...

''. In 1968, Christopherson was cast as the lead in a film titled ''Reality'', about a girl spending her weekend at a resort. She appeared in the Prince Street Players' musical adaptation of ''

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

'' in 1972. She was also the original voice of

on ''

'' for the first season in 1969 before taking leave to move to New York with her husband, Rabindra Danks. Her replacement for the rest of the series (and various spinoffs and specials in the franchise through 2003) was

Heather North Heather May North (December 13, 1945 – November 29, 2017) was an American actress. She is known for voicing Daphne Blake in the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise. Early years North was born in Pasadena, California. She was close with actress and voi ...

. Other voice work included the role of Princess Dawn on ''

Here Comes the Grump ''Here Comes the Grump'' is an animated cartoon series produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises and aired on NBC from 1969 to 1970. It was later shown in reruns on Sci-Fi Channel's Cartoon Quest. Structured as a battle between good and evil, th ...

'', which she performed while also voicing Daphne, additional voices on ''

Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels ''Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels'' is an American animated mystery comedy series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for ABC. The series aired during the network's Saturday morning schedule from ...

'' and providing voiceovers for

Scholastic Media Scholastic Corporation is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, teachers, parents, children, and other educational institutions. P ...

in ''

Clifford the Big Red Dog ''Clifford the Big Red Dog'' is an American children's book series which focuses on the adventures of an 8-year old blonde haired girl named Emily Elizabeth and her titular pet: a gigantic, red-furred dog named Clifford. It was first published ...

'' and the series ''Your Community Changes Every Day'' (for which she won the DuKane Citizenship Award). Christopherson is also well known for penning and singing commercial jingles and songs. She sang in the

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

jingle ''Reach Out and Touch Someone'', with music composed by David Lucas, and won a

Clio Award The Clio Awards, also simply known as The Clios, is an annual award program that recognizes innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design, and communication, as judged by an international panel of advertising professionals. The awar ...

. She sang and wrote the lyrics to the song "Crystal of a Star", along with composer

Doug Katsaros Doug Katsaros is an American keyboardist, arranger, composer, and conductor. Biography In 1978 he played on Paul Stanley's debut album, followed by working on albums by Richie Havens, Michael Bolton, Arc Angel, Bon Jovi and his band Balance ...

, which was used as the closing song for the 1986 film ''

Star Crystal ''Star Crystal'' is a 1986 American Horror film, horror science fiction film directed by Lance Lindsay. The film stars C. Juston Campbell and Faye Bolt as a pair of astronauts who must survive against a mysterious Extraterrestrial life, alien li ...

''.

Personal life

Christopherson married Rabindra Danks, an artist, on October 24, 1969. During their marriage they worked on albums together. After eleven years of marriage, the couple divorced on October 31, 1980. She has one son named K.C. Katsaros.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Indira Stefanianna Christopherson and Dean Pitchford in the Public Theatre stage production The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
photo taken by

Martha Swope Martha Joan Swope (February 22, 1928 – January 12, 2017) was an American photographer of theatre and dance. Early life and education Born in Tyler, Texas, she studied at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, before becoming a student at the Schoo ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Stefanianna, Indira 1946 births Living people American film actresses American voice actresses American television actresses 20th-century American actresses Actresses from San Francisco American people of Icelandic descent American people of Canadian descent American women singers Hanna-Barbera people 21st-century American women