| Meredith Baxter | |
|---|---|
Baxter at an AIDS Project Los Angeles benefit, 1990 |
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| Born | Meredith Ann Baxter June 21, 1947 South Pasadena, California, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Meredith Baxter-Birney |
| Ethnicity | White American |
| Occupation | Actress and producer |
| Years active | 1971–present |
| Television | Bridget Loves Bernie Family Family Ties Dan Vs. |
| Spouse | Robert Lewis Bush (1966–1969, divorced) David Birney (1974–1989, divorced) Michael Blodgett (1995–2000, divorced) |
| Partner | Nancy Locke (2005–present)[1] |
| Children | 2 sons, 3 daughters |
| Parents | Tom Baxter Whitney Blake (deceased) |
| Relatives | Allan Manings (mother's widower, deceased) |
Meredith Baxter (born June 21, 1947), also known for some years as Meredith Baxter-Birney, is an American actress and producer. She is known for her acting roles including three television series: Family (1976–1980), an ABC television-network drama, Family Ties (1982–1989), an NBC television-network situation comedy, and Dan Vs. (2011–present), a situation comedy on The Hub television-network.
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She was born Meredith Ann Baxter in South Pasadena, California, the daughter of actress and situation-comedy creator Whitney Blake and Tom Baxter, a radio announcer.[2] She was raised in Southern California and has two brothers: Richard (born 1944) and Brian (born 1946). Her mother's widower was situation-comedy writer Allan Manings.
Baxter got her first big break on television in 1972 as one of the stars of Bridget Loves Bernie, a CBS television-network situation comedy. The series was canceled after one season, but her co-star, David Birney became her second husband in 1974. Following their marriage and until their divorce in 1989, she was credited as Meredith Baxter-Birney.
As Baxter-Birney, she became widely known several years later on Family. She played the role of Nancy Lawrence Maitland and received two Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (1977 and 1978).
After Family ended, she starred with Annette O'Toole and Shelley Hack in Vanities (1981), a television production of the comedy-drama stage play about the lives, loves and friendship of three Texas cheerleaders starting from high school to post-college graduation; it aired as a part of Standing Room Only, a series on the premium-television channel HBO.
Baxter-Birney's next series was Family Ties, on which she played an ex-flower child mother, Elyse Keaton. In reality, she is only fourteen years older than Michael J. Fox, who played her son Alex Keaton. She and co-star Michael Gross (who played her husband Steven) share the exact same birthdate.
In 1986, during her time on Family Ties, Baxter garnered critical acclaim for her dramatic performance as Kate Stark in the well-known NBC television movie Kate's Secret, about a seemingly "perfect" suburban housewife and mother who is secretly suffering from bulimia nervosa.
Following Family Ties, Baxter (whose marriage to Birney ended in 1989) produced and starred in television films. She portrayed a psychopathic kidnapper in The Kissing Place (1990) and was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special for her work in A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story (1992), based on the true story of a divorcée who was convicted of murder in the shooting of her ex-husband and his young wife.
In 1994, she won[1] a Daytime Emmy Award for her role as a lesbian mother raising a young son, in Other Mothers (1993), a CBS Schoolbreak Special. For her work on the television film My Breast (1994), she received a special award for public awareness from the National Breast Cancer Coalition.
In 1997, Baxter once again played the mother of a character played by Michael J. Fox, this time on Spin City, an ABC situation comedy.
In 2005, she began appearing in television commercials for Garden State Life Insurance Company. In 2006, she temporarily co-hosted — with Matt Lauer — Today, the NBC morning news and talk show. In 2007, she made a guest appearance on What About Brian, an ABC drama series. That same year, she also made several appearances as the dying mother of Detective Lilly Rush on Cold Case, a CBS police-procedural series. In 2009, she is guest starring in season two of the web series We Have to Stop Now.[3]
In recent years, Baxter has also created a skin-care line, Meredith Baxter Simple Works,[4] which helps raise funds for her breast cancer research foundation. She is also a spokesperson for Consumer Cellular, a cell phone company advertised as providing a cheaper cell phone alternative for senior citizens.
She currently costars in the cable television sitcom Dan Vs. which airs on The Hub.
Baxter has been married three times and has five children. In 1966, she married Robert Lewis Bush and they had two children — Ted (born 1967) and Eva (born 1969); the couple was divorced in 1969. In 1974, she married David Birney and had three children — Kate (born 1974) and twins, Mollie and Peter (born 1984).[5] Following their divorce in 1989, she reverted to using Meredith Baxter. In 1995, she married actor and screenwriter Michael Blodgett; they were divorced in 2000. Baxter was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999.[6] Baxter was the guest speaker at the 2008 Southern Commencement for National University in La Jolla, California, and was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from the university.[7]
In 2009, The National Enquirer reported that Baxter was seen on a lesbian cruise with a female friend. This led to speculation as to whether Baxter was a lesbian or simply enjoying the cruise as a platonic straight friend. On December 2, 2009, she came out as a lesbian during an interview with Matt Lauer on Today, and on the Frank DeCaro Show on Sirius-XM OutQ 102.[8][9] She lives with her partner, Nancy Locke, a general contractor, with whom she has been since 2005. Baxter said she first realized she was a lesbian when she began her first same-sex relationship in 2002.[1][10][11]
On December 17, 2009, TV Guide reported that Baxter would write a memoir. Broadway Books, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group, had purchased the rights to Baxter's as-yet-untitled and as-yet-unwritten life story. In the book, Baxter "will present a fully realized portrait of her life as an actress, mother of five children, and grandmother, and will candidly discuss her fight with breast cancer, her 19 years of sobriety, entrepreneurship, and her decision to come out," a press release said.[12] Her memoir, titled Untied, was published in 2011.[13]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Stand Up and Be Counted | Tracy | |
| 1972 | Ben | Eve Garrison | |
| 1976 | All the President's Men | Debbie Sloan | |
| 1976 | Bittersweet Love | Patricia | |
| 1990 | Jezebel's Kiss | Virginia De Leo | |
| 1999 | Elevator Seeking | Ann | |
| 2003 | Devil's Pond | Kate | |
| 2005 | Paradise Texas | Liz Cameron | |
| 2005 | The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green | Harper Green | |
| 2008 | The Onion Movie | Cooking Show Chef | direct-to-video release |
| 2010 | Airline Disaster | President Harriet Franklin | post-production |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | The Young Lawyers | Gloria | 1 episode |
| 1971 | The Doris Day Show | April | 1 episode |
| 1971 | The Partridge Family | Jenny | 1 episode |
| 1972 | Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law | Ann Glover | 1 episode |
| 1972–1973 | Bridget Loves Bernie | Bridget Fitzgerald Steinberg | 24 episodes |
| 1973 | The Invasion of Carol Enders | Carol Enders | television film |
| 1973 | Doc Elliot | Jenny | 1 episode |
| 1973 | The Cat Creature | Rena Carter | ABC television film |
| 1974 | Barnaby Jones | Jenny Sutherland | 1 episode |
| 1974 | The Stranger Who Looks Like Me | Joanne Denver | ABC television film |
| 1974 | Young Love | April | CBS television film |
| 1974–1975 | Medical Center | Paula Priscilla |
2 episodes |
| 1975 | Target Risk | Linda Flayly | NBC television film |
| 1975 | The Imposter | Julie Watson | NBC television film |
| 1975 | The Streets of San Francisco | Jodi Dixon | 1 episode |
| 1975 | The Night That Panicked America | Linda Davis | ABC television film |
| 1975 | Medical Story | Erica Schiff Sunny |
2 episodes |
| 1975 | McMillan & Wife | Faye Leonard | 1 episode |
| 1976 | City of Angels | Mary Kingston | 3 episodes |
| 1976 | Wide World Mystery | 1 episode | |
| 1976 | Police Woman | Liz Robson | 1 episode |
| 1976–1980 | Family | Nancy Lawrence Maitland | 45 episodes |
| 1977–1982 | The Love Boat | Sandy Rytell | 3 episodes |
| 1978 | Little Women | Meg March | NBC television film |
| 1979 | The Family Man | Mercedes Cole | CBS television film |
| 1980 | Beulah Land | Lauretta Pennington | NBC miniseries |
| 1981 | Vanities | Joanne | HBO televised presentation of stage production |
| 1981 | The Two Lives of Carol Letner | Carol Letner | CBS television film |
| 1982 | Take Your Best Shot | Carol Marriner | CBS television film |
| 1982–1989 | Family Ties | Elyse Keaton | 171 episodes |
| 1985 | The Rape of Richard Beck | Barbara McKee | ABC television film |
| 1985 | Family Ties Vacation | Elyse Keaton | NBC television film |
| 1986 | Kate's Secret | Kate Stark | NBC television film |
| 1987 | The Long Journey Home | Maura Wells | CBS television film |
| 1988 | The Diaries of Adam and Eve | Eve | television film |
| 1988 | Mickey's 60th Birthday | Elyse Keaton | television special |
| 1988 | Winnie | Winnie | NBC television film |
| 1989 | She Knows Too Much | Samantha White | NBC television film |
| 1990 | The Kissing Place | Florence Tulane | USA Network television film |
| 1990 | Burning Bridges | Lynn Hollinger | ABC television film |
| 1992 | A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story | Betty Broderick | CBS television film |
| 1992 | Stolen Love | DeeDee | ABC Television film |
| 1993 | Darkness Before Dawn | Mary Ann Guard | NBC television film also co-executive producer |
| 1993 | CBS Schoolbreak Special - Other Mothers | Paula Hensen | 1 episode; won a Daytime Emmy Award for her role |
| 1994 | For the Love of Aaron | Margaret Gibson | television film |
| 1994 | One More Mountain | Margaret Reed | ABC television film |
| 1994 | My Breast | Joyce Wadler | CBS television film also co-executive producer |
| 1995 | Betrayed: A Story of Three Women | Amanda Nelson | ABC television film also co-executive producer |
| 1996 | The Faculty | Flynn Sullivan | 1 episode also executive producer |
| 1996 | After Jimmy | Maggie Stapp | television film |
| 1997 | Dog's Best Friend | Cow (Voice) | television film |
| 1997 | The Inheritance | Beatrice Hamilton | television film |
| 1997 | Let Me Call You Sweetheart | D.A. Kerry McGrath | The Family Channel television film |
| 1997 | Miracle in the Woods | Sarah Weatherby | television film |
| 1997 | Spin City | Macy Flaherty | 2 episodes: "Family Affair" (Part 1) and "Family Affair" (Part 2) |
| 1999 | Holy Joe | Annie Cass | CBS television film |
| 1999 | Down Will Come Baby | Leah Garr | CBS television film |
| 1999 | Miracle on the 17th Green | Susan McKinley | CBS television film |
| 2000 | The Wednesday Woman | Muriel Davidson | CBS television film |
| 2001 | A Mother's Fight for Justice | Terry Stone | Lifetime Television film |
| 2001 | Aftermath | Carol | television film |
| 2001 | Murder on the Orient Express | Mrs. Caroline Hubbard | television film |
| 2002 | A Christmas Visitor | Carol Boyajian | Hallmark Channel television film |
| 2003 | 7th Heaven | Mrs. Jones | 1 episode: "Go Ask Alice" |
| 2004 | Half & Half | Joan Tyrell | 1 episode |
| 2004 | Angel in the Family | Lorraine | Hallmark Channel television film |
| 2005 | The Closer | Congresswoman Simmons | 1 episode: "Fantasy Date" |
| 2006 | Brothers & Sisters | Margaret Packard | 1 episode: "For the Children" |
| 2006–2007 | Cold Case | Ellen Rush | 5 episodes |
| 2007 | What About Brian | Frankie | 1 episode: "What About All That Glitters..." |
| 2009 | Bound by a Secret | Ida Mae | Hallmark Channel television film |
| 2009 | Family Guy | Elyse Keaton and herself | 2 episodes: "Stew-Roids" and "Family Gay" |
| 2009 | Brothers | TV Mom | 1 episode: "Episode: Commercial – Coach DMV" |
| 2010 | We Have to Stop Now | Judy | Web series Episode: "The Grass Is Always Greener" |
| 2010 | RuPaul's Drag U | Herself | 1 episode: Appeared as a guest judge |
| 2011 | Oprah | Herself | 1 episode |
| 2011 | Dan Vs. | Elise Sr. | 4 episodes |
| 2011 | "Family Guy" | Carol | 1 Episode |
| 2011 | "Switched at Birth" | Bonnie Tamblyn Dixon |
| Year | Award | Result | Category | Series or Film |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Emmy Award | Nominated | Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Family |
| 1978 | Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Family | ||
| 1992 | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special | A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story | ||
| 1994 | 21st Daytime Emmy Awards | Won | Outstanding Performer in a Children's Special | CBS Schoolbreak Special - Other Mothers |
| 2007 | TV Land Award | Nominated | Lady You Love to Watch Fight for Her Life in a Movie of the Week |
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