A petite, blonde musical stage actor who has also worked in features and TV, the Texas native Buckley landed the role of Martha Jefferson in the Broadway musical "1776" upon arriving in New York in 1969. She followed that up with a role in the London production of "Promises Promises" where she picked up a Best Actress in a Musical award. She returned to New York, continuing to work both on and off-Broadway before director Trevor Nunn cast her in "Cats", the long running musical based on the writings of poet T.S. Eliot. As the jaded older cat Grizabella, Buckley sang "Memory" which became one of her musical signatures.
Buckley made her TV debut in the role of Abby on the hit family sitcom "Eight Is Enough" (1976-81), replacing Diana Hyland who had died suddenly after taping only four shows. Buckley also appeared in a number of TV specials including an ABC Afterschool drama, "Bobby and Sarah" for which she received a daytime Emmy nomination.
On the big screen, Buckley made her feature debut as the kindly gym teacher in "Carrie" (1976), but probably her best screen role was that of Dixie Scott, the flamboyant ex-wife of country singer Robert Duvall in Bruce Beresford's "Tender Mercies" (1982). Other notable appearances include Roman Polanski's thriller "Frantic" (1988) as Harrison Ford's disappearing wife, Woody Allen's less successful "Another Woman" (1988), as Ian Holm's first wife, and Lawrence Kasdan's uneven Western biopic "Wyatt Earp" (1994), as Virginia Earp.
In 1994, she replaced Patti LuPone in the London stage production of "Sunset Boulevard" and the following summer, Buckley made a triumphant return to Broadway replacing diva Glenn Close in the same role.
- Also Credited As:
Betty Lynn Buckley
- Born:
July 3, 1947 in Big Spring, Texas
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Job Titles:
Actor, Singer, Pageant contestant, Reporter
Family
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Brother: Norman Buckley. younger
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Father: Ernest Buckley. born in South Dakota
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Mother: Betty Bob Buckley.
Significant Others
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Companion: Brian De Palma. had relationship before filming of "Carrie"
Education
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Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas, BA
Milestones
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1966 Won the Miss Texas title
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1967 Competed in the Miss America Pageant
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1969 Stage acting debut in a musical, "1776"
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1970 Made London stage debut in "Promises, Promises"
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1976 Feature film debut as the gym teacher in "Carrie"
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1977 TV series debut as regular, "Eight Is Enough"; played stepmother Abby Bradford on the ABC series
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1977 Had featured role in the busted NBC pilot "The Rubber Gun Squad"
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1979 Was uncredited singer on the soundtrack to Milos Forman's "Hair"
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1981 Appeared in first network TV-movie "The Ordeal of Bill Carney"
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1982 Cast in "Cats", sang the song "Memory" which became her signature song; won Tony Award as Featured Actress in a Musical
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1982 First lead in a feature, "Tender Mercies"
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1985 TV debut in a miniseries, "Evergreen"
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1986 Replaced Bernadette Peters in the lead role as Emma in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "Song & Dance"
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1988 Co-starred as Harrison Ford's wife in Roman Polanski's "Frantic"
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1988 Starred as Margaret White, the mother of the title character, in the ill-fated musical adaptation of "Carrie"
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1994 Played the matriarch of the Earp family in Lawrence Kasdan's "Wyatt Earp"
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1996 Made concert debut at Carnegie Hall (June 10)
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1997 Filmed cameo role in Robert Redford's "The Horse Whisperers"; part cut from final release
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1997 Returned to Broadway in "Triumph of Love"; show closed after a short run; received Best Actress in a Musical Tony nomination
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1998 Starred as Mama Rose in "Gypsy" at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey
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1999 Had supporting role as Sarah Michelle Gellar's aunt in the feature "Simply Irresistible"
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1999 Made rare non-singing stage appearance in the Off-Broadway production of Nicky Silver's "The Eros Trilogy"
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2001 Had recurring role on the HBO drama "Oz" as the birth mother of prisoner Ryan O'Reilly
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2002 Acted in the play "Buffalo Gal" in its premiere in Buffalo
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2002 Appeared in the Sundance-screened independent feature "Noon Blue Apples"
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Appeared as Norma Desmond in Lloyd Webber's stage musical "Sunset Boulevard"; first played the role in London and later on Broadway
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Born and raised in Big Spring, Texas
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Had the title role in Rupert Holmes' award-winning musical "The Mystery of Edwin Drood"
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TV debut in PBS production of "The Devil's Work"
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Worked for a year as a reporter for the Fort Worth Press