Fresh-faced, all-American performer with strong stage experience. Armstrong was sympathetic as the new wife whose presence disrupts the harmony of a close-knit group of friends in Alan Alda's "middle ages" comedy, "The Four Seasons" (1981). She also appeared in the hit TV miniseries "Lace" (1984) as Judy Hale, a magazine publisher and one of the three women Phoebe Cates rounds up in her quest for her mother. Armstrong's film work of the same period includes a starring role in the flat "Jaws 3-D" (1983), playing Tom Hanks' ex-girlfriend in the comedy "Nothing in Common" (1986) and Elaine in "Dream Lover" (1994).
Armstrong turned up in ABC's groundbreaking one-hour dramatic series "My So-Called Life" (1994-95) as the well-meaning but controlling mother of a l5-year-old girl going through adolescence. Armstrong brought a certain edgy vulnerability to her character, a strong woman hitting 40, feeling insecure about her fading youth and her family's devotion to her.
Education
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Bryn Mawr School for Girls, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Milestones
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1975 Off-off Broadway debut, "Harmony House"
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1977 Played Julia Peters, one of the program's two leads, on debut as series regular, the CBS sitcom, "On Our Own"
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1978 TV-movie debut, starring opposite Richard Thomas in "Getting Married" (CBS)
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1979 Made screen acting debut in "The House of God"
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1979 Played a mother-to-be battling Hodgkin's Disease in the fact-based CBS movie "Walking Through the Fire"
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1981 Featured in Alan Alda's directorial debut "The Four Seasons"
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1982 Starred with Richard Thomas in the HBO adaptation of Neil Simon's "Barefoot in the Park"
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1983 Acted in the campy horror sequel "Jaws 3-D" and starred with Tom Selleck in the adventure "High Road to China"
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1984 Played magazine publisher Judy Hale, one of three women Phoebe Cates' revenge bent Lili suspects to be her neglectful mother in the popular miniseries "Lace" (ABC)
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1986 Featured in the Garry Marshall comedy-drama "Nothing in Common"
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1986 Starred on the NBC sitcom "All Is Forgiven" as a woman struggling to deal with her new marriage, disagreeable teenage stepdaughter and job as a soap opera producer
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1995 Featured in the TV-movies "She Stood Alone: The Tailhook Scandal" (ABC), "Stolen Innocence" (CBS) and "Danielle Steel's 'Mixed Blessings'" (NBC)
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1996 Racked up more TV-movie credits in "Forgotten Sins" (ABC), "She Cried No" (NBC), "The Perfect Daughter" (USA Network) and "Christmas Every Day" (Family Channel)
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1997 Played Christina Ricci's mother in the children's adventure "That Darn Cat"
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1998 Acted in John Waters' comedy "Pecker"
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1998 Had guest roles on the CBS series "Touched By an Angel" and "The Nanny", playing the ghost of the deceased wife of male lead Maxwell Sheffield in the latter
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1998 Starred in the CBS TV-movie "Forever Love" as a widow who joins the family of her comatose best friend, dealing with the awkwardness when the woman awakes twenty years later
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2000 Featured in the independent drama "Diamond Men"
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2002 Co-starred in the ABC series "That Was Then"
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Played role of Patty Chase, mother of protagonist Angela, on the ABC drama series "My So-Called Life"
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Starred on the ABC sitcom "Married People"