Jane Badler

Jane Badler
Born (1953-12-31) December 31, 1953
Brooklyn, New York,
United States
Occupation Actress and singer
Years active 1977–present
Spouse(s) Stephen Haines
Children 2

Jane Badler (born December 31, 1953, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Diana, the chief antagonist in NBC's science fiction TV series, V, between 1983 and 1985. Badler also appeared in ABC's "reimagined" version of V in 2011, again playing an alien named Diana, who this time is the mother of the series' chief antagonist, Anna. In recent years, Badler has also become an established nightclub singer in Australia, where she now lives, and has released three albums.

Early life and education

Badler spent her teen years in Great Neck, New York, moving to Manchester, New Hampshire, when she was in high school. Badler won the title Miss New Hampshire and competed at the 1973 Miss America Pageant.[1] Subsequently, she enrolled at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, to study drama.

Film career

Badler's first television role was Melinda Cramer Janssen on the American daytime soap opera One Life to Live, which she played from 1977 to 1981 and again in 1983. During her run, she also appeared in a 1979 episode of the primetime series Fantasy Island. Badler also starred on the daytime soap opera The Doctors as Natalie Bell from 1981 to 1982.

Badler then won her most prominent role, that of the villainous alien Diana in the 1983 NBC sci-fi miniseries V. She reprised the role in the 1984 sequel miniseries V: The Final Battle and again in V: The Series, which ran for one season from 1984 to 1985.

Following V, Badler co-starred with José Ferrer in the made-for-TV supernatural thriller Covenant. The following year she guest-starred as Meredith Braxton throughout the 1986–87 season of the CBS primetime soap opera Falcon Crest. Her other guest appearances during the 1980s included Riptide, Hotel, and Murder, She Wrote. In 1987, she played the role of Tania Winthrop in the short-lived action-adventure series The Highwayman. She then traveled to Australia to play agent Shannon Reed in the 1980s revival of Mission: Impossible, joining the series midway through its first season (replacing actress Terry Markwell, and her character of Casey Randall); then stayed with the series for its second season before it was cancelled in early 1990. After the series ended, Badler moved to Australia permanently and married businessman Stephen Hains. They have two sons, Sam and Harry. She later appeared on the Australian game show Cluedo from 1992 to 1993, and had a guest-starring role in Snowy River: The McGregor Saga in 1995.

In March 2010, Badler was cast as the villainous Diana Marshall in the Australian soap opera Neighbours.[2] She had a four-month guest contract with the show.[3]

A remake of V premiered in late 2009, and although this version did not include the character of Diana, the series' executive producer, Scott Peters, suggested that Badler and other stars from the original version may be offered guest roles as new characters.[4] In August 2010, it was announced that Badler would be joining the series as a new character named Diana, the mother of the Visitors' evil leader Anna [5] (Morena Baccarin). Badler appeared in nine of the second season's ten episodes, commencing in January 2011. In the second season finale, her character was apparently killed by Anna, and ABC decided to not renew the series for a third season (although the fan campaign "Project Alice" is reported to be campaigning to Warner Bros. to renew the show on a different network).

Music and theatre career

Already an able singer when she competed in the Miss New Hampshire and Miss America Pageants, Badler forged a career in cabaret and on the stage in the 2005 Magnormos production of archy & mehitabel,[6][7] based on Don Marquis's books of poetry. She also appeared in Sextet, Big Hair in America, and with director Robert Chuter (who also directed two of her cabaret shows in 2000) she appeared in The Singing Forest, The Great Gatsby and her one-woman show Shakin' the Blues Away in which she also sang. Other productions in which she appeared for Magnormos included a concert of the musical Rebecca and OzMade Musicals.

Badler released her debut album (backed by the Melbourne-based band Sir) on June 1, 2008. Titled The Devil Has My Double, it is an autobiographical album which has been described as "a compulsive mix of fame, sex and solitude, set to a sweeping soundtrack of cold soul and passionate synthetics." As part of promotion for the album, she gave an extensive interview about her work to the Boxcutters podcast.[8]

Badler released her second album, Tears Again, in 2011. She teamed up with Australian musicians Matt Doll and Byron St John to co-write her third album, Opus, which was released in September 2014.

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1977–1983 One Life to Live Melinda Cramer Janssen #2 Unknown episodes
1979 Fantasy Island Kim Episode: "The Victim/The Mermaid"
1981–1982 The Doctors Natalie Bell #2 Unknown episodes
1981 Terror Among Us Pam Television film
1983 The First Time Karen Watson
1983 V Diana 2 episodes
1983 Mr. Smith Uncredited Episode: "Mr. Smith Plays Cyrano"
1984 V (The Final Battle) Diana 3 episodes
1984 Brothers Phyllis Episode: "Mindless Passion"
1984–1985 V: The Series Diana 19 episodes
1985 Covenant Dana Noble Television film
1985 Hotel Angie Archer 1 episode
1986 Blacke's Magic Elisa Leigh Episode: "Celebrations"
1986 Riptide Janet Ingram Episode: "Smiles We Left Behind"
1986 Penalty Phase Katie Pinter Television film
1986–1987 Falcon Crest Meredith Braxton 22 episodes
1987 Jake and the Fatman Shelly Episode: "Happy Days Are Here Again"
1987–1988 The Highwayman Tania Winthrop 10 episodes
1988 Murder, She Wrote Carolyn Hazlitt Episode: "Curse of the Daanau"
1989 Easy Kill Jade Anderson
1989 Fine Gold Julia
1989 Autumn Rain Lucia
1989–1990 Mission: Impossible Shannon Reed 24 episodes
1990 Black Snow Shelby Collins
1992 Cluedo Mrs. Elizabeth Peacock 20 episodes
1992 Embassy Jacqueline Kowalski Episode: "Nice Guys Finish Last"
1994 Sky Trackers Coral Lee Pierce Episode: "Star Time"
1995 Under the Gun Sandy Torrence
1995 Snowy River: The McGregor Saga Yvonne Waugh 2 episodes
1997 Flipper Unknown Episode: "Help Me, Rhonda"
1999 Crash Zone Elanor Renfrey Episode: "No News Is Good News"
2011 Like Mother Like Son Mrs. Fox Television film
2002 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World Dame Alice Kyteler Episode: "A Witch's Calling"
2002 Blue Heelers Kath Shepherd Episode: "Sins of the Father"
2010 Neighbours Diana Marshall 24 episodes
2010 Needle Professor Banyon
2011 V Diana 9 episodes
2011 Spicks and Specks Herself Episode: "#7.6"
2011 Offspring Wendy 3 episodes
2013 Birthday Cake Herself
2013 Bitch, Popcorn & Blood La Femme Fatale
2014 Good Samaritan Businesswoman
2016 Virtual Revolution Dina

Discography

Studio albums

Title Details
The Devil Has My Double
Tears Again
Opus
  • Release date: September 15, 2014
  • Label: MeJane Music
  • Formats: CD, download

Singles

Title Details
"Four Corners to My Bed"
  • Released: 2011
  • Formats: CD, download
"Men Who Lie"
  • Released: 2011
  • Formats: CD, download
  • Music video: Directed by 'Mal Voyageur'
"Snow Carnival Queen"
  • Released: 2011
  • Formats: CD, download
  • Music video: Animated and produced by 1house Management
"I Want a Lot of Boys to Cry at My Funeral"

References

  1. "Miss NH in Review". Miss New Hampshire. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  2. "V actress cast as Neighbours baddie". MSN. 29 March 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  3. Kilkelly, Daniel (15 June 2010). "Jane Badler teases 'Neighbours' role". Digital Spy. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  4. Lee, Patrick (August 11, 2009). "V producer on who might return and other homages". SciFiWire.com. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  5. Keck's Exclusives: Jane Badler to Revive Diana on V's Season Premiere – Today's News: Our Take. TVGuide.com (2010-08-06). Retrieved on 2012-08-19.
  6. "Entertainment News: archy & mehitabel (November 28–30, 2005)". Entertainmentdepot.com.au. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  7. "archy & mehitabel (November 28–30, 2005)". Magnormos.com. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  8. Ep 160: Jane Badler (Diana from V), Sons of Anarchy. Boxcutters (2008-12-08). Retrieved on 2012-08-19.

External links

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