Lydia Cornell

Lydia Cornell
Born Lydia Korniloff
July 23, 1953
El Paso, Texas, U.S.
Nationality American
Alma mater Los Angeles Conservatory of Music and Arts
University of Colorado Boulder
Occupation Actress
Author
Writer
Comedienne
Blogger
Years active 1980–present
Known for Too Close for Comfort
Website
www.lydiacornell.com

Lydia Cornell (born July 23, 1953)[1] is an American actress, writer, novelist, comedienne, blogger, and talk-radio host.

Early life and family

Cornell was born as Lydia Korniloff in El Paso, Texas on July 23, 1953,[2][3] the eldest daughter of concert violinist Irma Jean Stowe, the great granddaughter of Harriet Beecher Stowe,[4][5] and Irma Jean and Gregory Jacob Korniloff,[6] a graduate of the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music and Arts, who was later assistant concertmaster of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra,[7] Cornell is the oldest sister of Paul Korniloff, a piano prodigy who died of an overdose of narcotics, and Kathryn "Kathy" Korniloff, co-founder of the band Two Nice Girls,[8][9] and since 1995 a sound designer and composer.[10]

While a nine-year-old fourth grade student at Mesita Elementary School, Cornell was chosen as El Paso's Little Miss Cotton in March 1963.[3][6][11] In 1966 Cornell and her family moved to Scarsdale, New York, where she attended both Scarsdale Junior High School[6][12] and Scarsdale High School, graduating in 1971.[13]

About 1972 Cornell enrolled at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she eventually studied drama, English, Russian, and Spanish and Anthropology.[14][15] During the summer between Sophomore and Junior year in college, she worked at the famed recording studio Caribou Ranch in Nederland, Colorado. She met Billy Joel, Dennis Wilson, Carol King, Joni Mitchell, David Cassidy, photographer Henry Diltz. As a Caribou Ranch photographer and "kitchen girl" she brought food to cabins (Ooray, Running Bear, the Grizzle Bear Lodge) of the rock stars including The Beach Boys, America, Chicago and Billy Joel. The Ozark Mountain Daredevils gave her a credit on their album "Men From Home." Before graduation, Cornell was the road manager for musician Michael Murphy.[6] In May 1976 Cornell graduated from UC Boulder with a Bachelor of Science in Business, with majors in both advertising and English/drama.[6][14][15]

By the time of her father's death in May 1977, Cornell had joined the rest of the Korniloff family, who had been living in The Hague, the Netherlands since mid-1975.[5][16][17] Soon after her mother and siblings moved back to El Paso, Texas.

By 1978 Cornell had moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career and had a job for three months at a recording studio,[15] before being employed by Jack Webb Productions as a secretary-production assistant.[18] Still known as Lydia Korniloff, Cornell worked as an assistant to the producer on the television movie Little Mo, a biography of tennis star Maureen Connolly.[19]

Acting career

Cornell's first screen appearance was as Lydia Kornillof in a walk-on as a girl in a car in the 1979 film Steel, produced by and starring Lee Majors. Her first professional speaking part was two lines in an episode of The Love Boat.[20] In the summer of 1980, Cornell spent nine weeks filming in the Greek Isles for her appearance the mythological horror film Blood Tide,[15][21] which featured Oscar winners James Earl Jones, Jose Ferrer and Lila Kedrova and was produced by Nico Mastorakis and Donald Langdon.[5][22] It was not released until 1982.[23][24]

Cornell's first major role was as Sara Rush, "a ditzy big-breasted blond",[25] on the ABC television situation comedy Too Close for Comfort which screened from November 11, 1980 to 1986.[26] In 1982, at the height of this show's popularity, Cornell was described by sexologist Robert T. Francoeur as providing a modern example of "classic female stereotypes in the mold of Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield.[27]

Cornell has also appeared on numerous television programs over the years, including The Love Boat (5 episodes), Charlie's Angels,[28] Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Drew Carey Show, the pilot episode of Quantum Leap,[29] Full House, Knight Rider,[30] The Dukes of Hazzard,[31] The A-Team,[32] T. J. Hooker, Simon & Simon, Hunter,[33] Hardball,[34] Black Scorpion,[35] Hotel (2 episodes), Fantasy Island, Battle of the Network Stars, Super Password (1985-1987),[36] TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes, and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve as co-host with Anson Williams.

Literary and journalistic career

Cornell's articles have appeared in Macon Area Online.[37]

References

  1. ↑ Today in History: Singer Amy Winehouse, 27, found dead (July 23, 2014). The Associated Press. The Gaston Gazette. Accessed January 16, 2015.
  2. ↑ El Paso County birth records, http://epcounty.com , list Lydia Korniloff born July 23. Accessed Jan 14 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "El Paso Areas Miss Cotton Is Happy Nine Year Old Girl", El Paso Herald Post(April 1, 1963):4.
  4. ↑ Lydia Cornell Biography.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Dick Kleiner, "Lydia Cornell In New Series", Waycross Journal-Herald (November 22, 1980):P-39.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 El Paso Actress' Success Not Too Close for Comfort, Daily Leader, (Frederick, OK: August 15, 1982):10.
  7. ↑ Loretta Overton, "Kiwanis Club Urged to Back Symphony Artists of the Symphony; EP Couple Keeps in Tune; No One In Family Plays Second Fiddle", El Paso Herald-Record (April 22, 1965):17.
  8. ↑ Colin Larkin, ed., The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Vol. 7, 3rd ed. (Macmillan, 1998).
  9. ↑ "Where Are They Now? Two Nice Girls", AfterEllen, (August 22, 2007).
  10. ↑ Bio.
  11. ↑ El Paso Herald-Post (May 11, 1963).
  12. ↑ Joan Crosby, "Tony Orlando Fan Requests Information About Singer", St. Joseph News-Press (July 11, 1981):11A.
  13. ↑ Celebrity High - The Cast of "Too Close For Comfort", (September 4, 2011). Photographs of Lydia Korniloff from her school yearbook.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Stacy Jenel Smith, "Lydia Cornell: 'Too Close for Comfort' star is close to stardom", The Spokesman-Review (June 27, 1982):3.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Randy Waage, "If You Can Read This You are Too Close!", ca. 2005.
  16. ↑ "Former EP man is dead", El Paso Herald-Post (June 3, 1977):8.
  17. ↑ Kathryn (Kathy) Korniloff, Scarsdale Class of 1978.
  18. ↑ Stacy Jenel Smith, "Lydia Cornell: 'Too Close for Comfort' star is close to stardom", The Spokesman-Review (June 27, 1982):4.
  19. ↑ Lydia Cornell
  20. ↑ Donna Wasiczko, "A Blonde, She Is; Dumb, She Is Not", Milwaukee Sentinel (April 4, 1985):1, Part 3.
  21. ↑ Donald C. Willis, Horror and Science Fiction Films III (Scarecrow Press, 1984):29.
  22. ↑ John Kenneth Muir, Horror Films of The 1980s (McFarland, 2007):148-149.
  23. ↑ James J. Mulay, The Horror Film (CineBooks, 1989):24.
  24. ↑ "Blood Tide Review". TV Guide. Retrieved 2013-12-21.
  25. ↑ Elana Levine, Wallowing in Sex: The New Sexual Culture of 1970s American Television (Duke University Press, 2006).
  26. ↑ Marla Brooks, The American Family on Television: A Chronology of 121 Shows, 1948-2004 (McFarland & Co., 2005):132.
  27. ↑ Robert T. Francoeur, Becoming a Sexual Person (Macmillan Publishing Company, 1982):474.
  28. ↑ David Hofstede and Jack Condon, Charlie's Angels Casebook (Pomegranate Press, 2000).
  29. ↑ Cornell Quantum Leap 20th Anniversary: The Leap Back 2009.
  30. ↑ Joe F. Huth and Richie F. Levine, Knight Rider Legacy: The Unofficial Guide to the Knight Rider Universe (iUniverse, 2004):200.
  31. ↑ David Hofstede, The Dukes of Hazzard: The Unofficial Companion (St. Martin's Press, 2005).
  32. ↑ Jon Abbott, Stephen J. Cannell Television Productions: A History of All Series and Pilots (McFarland, 2009):153.
  33. ↑ Jon Abbott, Stephen J. Cannell Television Productions: A History of All Series and Pilots (McFarland, 2009):212.
  34. ↑ Vincent Terrace, Television Character and Story Facts: Over 110,000 Details from 1,008 Shows, 1945-1992 (McFarland & Co., 1993):193.
  35. ↑ John Kenneth Muir, The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film and Television, 2nd ed. (McFarland & Co., 2008):155.
  36. ↑ Norman Chance, Who Was Who on Tv, Vol. 3 (Xlibris Corporation, 2011):281.
  37. ↑ "Internet Archive Wayback Machine". Web.archive.org. 2006-04-14. Archived from the original on 2006-04-14. Retrieved 2012-04-29.

External links

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