Nancy Stafford

Early life

Stafford was born June 5, 1954, in Wilton Manors, Florida, a suburb of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where she was raised in a Southern Baptist home. Stafford graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism. She is a Christian. After graduating from Ft. Lauderdale High School in 1972, she was Miss Florida 1976, competing in the 1977 Miss America Pageant. She began her career working as a public relations specialist. In addition she worked as a model in New York at the Ford Model Agency.

Career

Stafford moved to Los Angeles in 1982, where she had her first guest-starring role playing the dual role of Adrienne/Felicia Hunt on the daytime soap opera The Doctors. She had guest starring roles in shows such as Riptide, Remington Steele, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Who's the Boss?, Hunter, Quantum Leap, and Magnum, P.I.. In 1983, Stafford won her first regular role on the NBC medical drama series, St. Elsewhere, as Joan Halloran. She played the role for three seasons. She later starred as Patricia Blake in the short-lived ABC series Sidekicks from 1986 to 1987.

Stafford is best known for her role as Ben Matlock's assistant Michelle Thomas in the legal drama Matlock, opposite Andy Griffith, from 1987 to 1992, replacing Linda Purl, who left after the first year. Stafford had been a lifelong Griffith fan, since the early 1960s, as a six-year-old girl. Stafford auditioned and won the role. Before she played Michelle, she guest starred on the same show in 1986, where she played a call girl. When the show relocated its filming from the west coast, Stafford opted to leave Matlock. After her departure from Matlock, she began public speaking and hosted Main Floor, a 1990s talk show. In 2008 she co-hosted the first season of Love, Marriage and Stinkin' Thinkin alongside Mark Gungor. Stafford continued to guest star in many shows, such as ER, Frasier, Babylon 5, Baywatch and The Mentalist.

Stafford is the author of many Christian books, such as: Beauty by the Book: Seeing Yourself as God Sees You, The Wonder of His Love: A Journey into the Heart of God, and her 2006 book, Mothers & Daughters Taking Your Adult Relationship to a Deeper Level. Stafford continued to have a relationship with Andy Griffith after her departure from Matlock. After Griffith's death, Stafford said about him that "Andy was more than you can imagine. Obviously, he was an American icon, but he was an incredible professional. He set a tone on the set, every single day that was absolutely inspiring. He was fun. He was profoundly loyal. He was just an amazing wonderful man and he left an indelible mark on my life as well as the lives of everyone who watched him over the years." She recalled speaking to him on his 86th birthday (shortly before his death), saying, "He sounded so wonderful, he picked the phone right up and he was upbeat and he sounded full of energy and we laughed and we joked. I told him how much I loved him and we just had a great, great, great conversation; so glad that we did. He sounded amazing."

Personal life

Stafford married Larry Myers, a pastor. They have a daughter and grandson. Her older brother, Tracy Stafford, was a two-term Mayor of Wilton Manors and a five-term member of the Florida House of Representatives.