Audrey Landers

Early years

Landers was born Audrey Hamburg in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Landers began her acting career at the age of 9, when she starred in her first community theater musical, and continued acting and singing in community theater shows in New York State. Landers was first noticed with a country song that she wrote and performed at the age of twelve, which led to a Nashville recording contract with Epic Records, a performance on The Merv Griffin Show, and a year-long role on the daytime drama, The Secret Storm.

During her teen years, she acted on the daytime drama Somerset and studied music at the Juilliard School in New York City, while majoring in psychology at Columbia University. Her feature film debut came in The Tennessee Stallion (1978) with her sister, Judy.

Career

Landers moved to Los Angeles and on her 24th birthday, landed the role of Afton Cooper on Dallas, which she held for 84 episodes, from 1981 to 1984, and further episodes in 1989. She also appeared in the television movie Dallas: J.R. Returns (1996). In the series, her character was a nightclub singer. Landers had already recorded two singles in the 1970s, but during her stint on Dallas, she recorded her first album, Little River (1983). She has since released over a dozen albums, mainly for European record companies. After she left Dallas in 1984, she was cast by director Richard Attenborough as Val Clarke in the film version of A Chorus Line (1985). In 2013, she reprised her role of Afton Cooper in several episodes of the second season of the revival of Dallas.

Before joining Dallas, she guest-starred in a number of television series, including The Dukes of Hazzard, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat and Battlestar Galactica and appeared as a panelist on Match Game 79. In the 1990s, she appeared in the television miniseries of Jackie Collins' Lucky Chances. From 1990–92, she played the role of Charlotte Hesser, eldest daughter of upstate Pennsylvania mob boss Carlo Hesser on the ABC daytime series One Life to Live.

With her young sons as inspiration, Landers created the children's television series, The Huggabug Club in 1996, for which, in addition to writing the scripts, she also wrote the 250+ original songs in the series. Her partner (and mother), Ruth Landers, produced the series and donated it to Public Television for its 5-year run. In 2006, she co-wrote, and co-directed the family adventure film, Circus Island, a Ruth Landers production. Landers and her mother have also created a fashion line called Landers STAR Collection which is gaining global popularity through QVC UK, and in Italy, Canada, Germany, and the U.S.

Personal life

Audrey is sister of actress Judy Landers, and has acted with her in several roles, including multiple episodes of The Love Boat as well as Circus Island and Ghost Writer, films produced by Ruth Landers. Audrey and Judy Landers were on the cover and in a non-nude pictorial of the January 1983 issue of Playboy.

Landers married businessman Donald Berkowitz in May 1988. They have two children, twins Adam and Daniel, born in 1993.

Discography