Susan Ellen Anton is an American actress and singer.

Early life

Anton attended Yucaipa High School in Yucaipa, California, and graduated in 1968. After high school, Anton attended San Bernardino Valley College. She first experienced fame by winning the nearby Miss Redlands and later the

Miss California The Miss California competition selects the representative for the state of California in the Miss America competition. The pageant began in Santa Cruz in 1924 and was held there in 1925. During the years 1926 through 1946 in years when the Mi ...

beauty contests A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the Physical attractiveness, physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of Per ...

in 1969 and tied as second runner-up in the 1969

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

Scholarship Pageant held September 6 that year.

Career

Starting in 1976, Anton developed a following for her Muriel Cigar commercials where she sang, "Let Muriel turn you on / That is my desire / Muriel lights a flame in me / Where there's Muriel smoke, there's fire". Later in the 1970s, Anton appeared approximately 30 times on Merv Griffin's TV show. She was frequently seen and heard in television, print and radio ads for the Perfect Sleeper mattress by Serta. In these ads, she announced her name and sang the company's jingle. In 1978, ABC gave her and country singer

Mel Tillis Lonnie Melvin Tillis (August 8, 1932 – November 19, 2017) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although he recorded songs since the late 1950s, his biggest success occurred in the 1970s as part of the outlaw country movement, ...

a summertime variety series, ''Mel and Susan Together'', produced by the Osmond Brothers. The pairing of Anton and Tillis was an unlikely one: he was popular in country music circles but hardly a national household name while Susan was barely known at all. The show disappeared after four weeks; nevertheless, she was later chosen as one of ''

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on M ...

''s "Most Promising Faces of 1979". She later starred in her own variety show, ''Presenting Susan Anton,'' ''Stop Susan Williams'' ( one of three serials in the Cliffhangers series), and in the films '' Goldengirl,'' '' Spring Fever,'' and '' Cannonball Run II.'' She also recorded music, her biggest hit being "Killin' Time" in 1980, a duet with country singer Fred Knoblock. The record made Top 10 on the country charts and hit #28 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

's'' Hot 100. In 1990, Anton appeared on the TV comedy series ''

Night Court ''Night Court'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984 to May 31, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan municipal court presided over by a young, unorthodox judge, Harold "Harry" T. Stone (portra ...

'' in an episode called "The Talk Show" where she played talk show producer Margo Hunter. Anton is on the cover of the mass trade paperback edition of ''Goldengirl,'' written by Peter Lovesey (using the pen name Peter Lear). She had appeared as the title character in the film version which starred

James Coburn James Harrison Coburn III (August 31, 1928 – November 18, 2002) was an American film and television actor who was featured in more than 70 films, largely action roles, and made 100 television appearances during a 45-year career.AllmoviBi ...

and was directed by Joseph Sargent. Anton was the host of the successful "Great Radio City Music Hall Spectacular" show at the Flamingo Hilton in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

for over 5,000 performances until July 31, 2000. She also appeared in the Las Vegas company of the musical '' Hairspray'' and on Broadway in '' The Will Rogers Follies,'' '' Hurlyburly,'' and '' All Shook Up.'' She had a recurring role on the TV series '' Baywatch'' from 1992 to 1994 and has appeared as herself on '' Queer Eye for the Straight Guy'' (2006), ''The

Larry Sanders Show Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment * Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer *Larry Boone ...

'' (1993) and ''It's Garry Shandling's Show'' (1987), as well as in several films. Most recently she appeared in the movie Sharknado: The 4th Awakens in 2016. Anton appeared in an episode of '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' which aired on March 31, 2010. She was scheduled to reprise her role as Velma Von Tussle in '' Hairspray'' at the Hollywood Bowl production slated to run from August 5 to 7, 2011. In 2020, Anton starred in the feature

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and co ...

film ''Painter'' as the character Carree Tole.

Personal life

Anton was involved in a much publicized relationship with English film and TV star Dudley Moore in the early 1980s, with much being made of their height difference: Moore being and Anton . Anton married television actor

Jeff Lester Jeff Lester (born May 4, 1955) is an American actor known for his television appearances. In 1996, Lester transitioned from acting to producing, writing and directing where he has created award-winning commercials and Short film, short films. Ca ...

on August 15, 1992, her second marriage.

Filmography

Discography

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Anton, Susan 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Living people Actresses from California American women country singers American country singer-songwriters American film actresses American musical theatre actresses American stage actresses American television actresses American women pop singers American beauty pageant winners Miss America 1970 delegates People from San Bernardino County, California Singer-songwriters from California 21st-century American women singers San Bernardino Valley College alumni Country musicians from California People from Yucaipa, California 20th-century American singers 21st-century American singers Year of birth missing (living people)