Stevie Vallance

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Stevie Vallance (born Stephanie Louise Vallance), also known as Louise Vallance is a Canadian actress and singer born in Montreal, Quebec.

[edit] Television

In the 1980s, Vallance co-starred in the Canadian crime drama series Night Heat, which was also broadcast in the United States. She also became a prolific voice actor, and her voice can be heard in such animated TV series as The Care Bears (as Proud Heart Cat), Dennis The Menace (as Alice Mitchell), Popples, ReBoot, Donkey Kong Country(as Dixie Kong), Madeline, Shadow Raiders, and InuYasha. While starring in Night Heat, she also appeared as a very different character, Whazzat Kangaroo, in the PBS children's show Zoobilee Zoo. She also voice-directed the dialogue and music in Madeline for which she was awarded an Emmy in 2002. Currently nominated for a 2007 Daytime Emmy, as 'Producer/Voice Director' for Growing Up Creepie, Mike Young Productions/Discovery Kids network.

STEVIE VALLANCE’S rich career tapestry reflects three decades of experience performing on stage, television and film.

"Vallance's voice sounds fabulous... mature, well recorded, comfortable, sexy...", said Paul Grant (CBC Radio), of Stevie's current cd project, Full Circle, to be released in Stevie’s hometown, Toronto, this year. Mixed by Don Thompson and produced by Pat Coleman (guitar), the cd features Mike Herriot (trumpet), Tom Colclough (sax), Buff Allen (drums), Ross Taggart (piano) and Miles Hill (bass). Full Circle offers smooth renditions of popular jazz standards, as well as original songs by Vancouver based composers such as Jim Vallance.

By the time she was 19, Stevie had sung and danced her way across eastern Canada with The Charlottetown Festival, graduated from The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, and at age 20, while fronting her own band in Los Angeles, featuring Gershwin, Hart & Porter tunes, a CBS executive heard her and offered her a recurring role as recording artist, 'Sylvie', on the long-running series, Knots Landing.

Over the next sixteen years Stevie resided in LA, and appeared in leading and regular roles, on such network series and feature films as The Ropers, Bosom Buddies, Lou Grant, LA Law, Road To Avonlea, Three Men & A Baby and Slam Dunk Ernest. She also co-starred alongside Ben Vereen, as a very different character named Whazzat Kangaroo, in the Hallmark children’s series Zoobilee Zoo, while at the same time commuting to Toronto, as Det. Stevie, in CBS's late night series, Night Heat.

It was during this time that Stevie earned the moniker 'Cartoon Queen', for her prolific work infusing life and personality into characters on thousands of animated productions including Inspector Gadget, Ghost Busters, Carebears, Reboot, Donkey Kong, Dennis the Menace, Trollz, and Don Bluth's Thumbelina and The Pebble & The Penguin.

In 2002, she received an Emmy Award for voice-directing the dialogue and music on 70 episodes of the Disney television series Madeline, on which she also portrayed the voices of Miss Clavel and Genevive. Since then, Stevie has voice-directed the Teletoon series Silverwing and Totally Spies and most recently she cast and voice-directed Discovery Kids network’s Growing Up Creepie, which is currently nominated for a 2007 Daytime Emmy Award.

There is an inevitable quality about Stevie Valance's voice. How could it not be captivating? Perhaps, learning her craft in over 3500 live performances has created a life in which choice is not an option. Or, perhaps her ongoing search for joyful and authentic life expression is sourced in music.

While living on the west coast, Stevie headlined as a jazz vocalist, at The Baked Potato, Jade West and Lunaria, in Hollywood. In Vancouver, she performed regularly at The Jazz Cellar and Rossini’s, where she had the great privilege of singing alongside some of the city's finest jazz musicians, including Miles Black (piano), Rick Kilburn (bass), Daryl Jahnke (guitar), Darren Radtke (bass), Paul Rushka (bass), Mike Rud (guitar), Linton Garner (piano), Bill Coon (guitar) and Linton Garner (piano).

In 1995, Stevie moved to Bowen Island, BC where she met Michael Creber (piano/k.d.Lang) and in 1998, they recorded Stevie's debut jazz cd, Practically Naked, reviewed by one critic as "an unforgettable piece of music history, sung with a warmth and grace that sends shivers down the spine."

On her second cd, Always, released in 1999, inspiration came from Stevie's one-woman portrayal of the legendary Patsy Cline, with whom Vallance coincidentally shares the same birthday. Stevie toured the show in western Canada, for six years, and opened for the Calgary Stampede in 1998.

Motivated by the devastating loss of a close personal friend, Stevie conceived and organised the critically acclaimed Divas For Life jazz benefit concerts, in Vancouver. In addition to producing the first “standing room only” concert at The Vogue Theatre, in 2001, she also negotiated a national distribution deal for the CD, Live At The Vogue!, which was released and performed as part of the 2001 Vancouver International Jazz Festival line-up, as a series of sold-out dinner concerts. On Valentine’s Day, 2002, she produced Divas For Love, which again packed The Vogue, and all proceeds, grossing over $70,000, were donated to supporting people living with life-threatening illness and Stevie was presented with the organisations Friend In Deed Philanthropy Award. In 2004, Stevie began to ‘close the circle’, by debuting in her hometown, Toronto, where she was met with a full house at The Montreal Bistro Bistro; accompanied by jazz icon Don Thompson, bassist Neil Swainson and drummer Ted Warren. She also performed for the first time in her birth town, Montreal, at The Upstairs, with jazz pianist Steve Amirault, bassist Zach Lober and drummer Jim Doxas.

In August 2005, with three decades of experience under her wing, Stevie moved back to Toronto in order to be close to her beloved family. Her ‘originals’ cd, Full Circle, will be released later this year.