Anne Matheson
| Anne Matheson | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knots Landing character | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | Michelle Phillips | ||||||||
| Duration | 1987, 1989, 1990-93, 1997 | ||||||||
| First appearance |
January 8, 1987 (Episode: No Miracle Worker) | ||||||||
| Last appearance |
May 9, 1997 (Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac) | ||||||||
| Created by | David Jacobs | ||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||
| Occupation |
Socialite Scam Artist | ||||||||
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Anne Matheson Sumner (née Winston)[1] is a fictional character from the CBS soap opera Knots Landing, a long-running serial about middle class life on the fictional cul-de-sac known as Seaview Circle in Los Angeles, California. She was played by actress and singer Michelle Phillips between 1987 and 1993. She debuted in the seventeenth episode of the eighth season before departing eleven episodes later. She returned in the ninth episode of the tenth season and Phillips remained a principal actor in the series until the final episode. The character made her last television appearance in 1997, when she appeared in the Knots Landing reunion series Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac.
Development
Casting and creation
Prior to being cast in Knots Landing, Phillips was primarily known as a member of the 1960s group The Mamas & the Papas. When the group split, Phillips later turned to acting in movies and television. During the casting process of her on-screen daughter Paige Matheson, Phillips' real life daughter Chynna Phillips auditioned for the role. Phillips described how her casting occurred, "Chynna Phillips was brought in to read for the role of this person. She was 18 at the time and looked about 11. They liked her but they didn’t think she looked old enough, so they cast Nicollette (Sheridan). However Chynna being there got them to think about me. Nicollette was six months into the role and it was time for Mom to appear. David Jacobs took me to lunch one day and said, “We have written a part for you.” He said she was a wealthy Easterner and had a child with Mack".[1]
Initially the character of Anne was to be a permanent fixture on the show with Phillips signing a five year contract. "I had never been signed onto a series before and in this case they wanted a five-year contract, so I was a little nervous about that. But I came on the show and loved the process. I loved the character they wrote for me. In a way, though, I think I might have done too good a job playing Anne. With Mack and I there was definitely some chemistry and it definitely scared the shit out of them. I think they thought that Anne could really damage that marriage and they didn’t want to go that route. So what happened was that Mack did a 180, one minute we’re practically making out and the next he says, “I want you to go away” and boom! I was gone".[1]
Characterisation
The character of Anne was originally seen as a wicked woman dependent on her father and husband's wealth. Phillips described this trait of the character in The Free Lance-Star, "People do see her as wicked, but I see her a victim herself. She's really a nice woman. She hasn't done anything really terrible except embezzle a million dollars from her daughter. She's a victim of this antiquated attitude that women must be taken care of by men. She's unprepared for the 21st century - or even the 20th century".[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Knots Landing Character: Anne Matheson". CBS. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
- ↑ "More Wanting than Wicked". The Free Lance-Star. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
External links
- Anne Matheson at KnotsLanding.net
- Anne Matheson at the Internet Movie Database
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