Joanna Cassidy

American television and movie actress best known for her role in "Falcon Crest." The younger daughter of a legal investigator father and a painter mother, she was a typical teenage nonconformist. She went to Syracuse University in 1964 until she dropped out to marry a young doctor. This union produced daughter Naomi and son Daniel. When her husband entered the army, Cassidy followed him to Columbia, SC. She did not handle army life well and found her role as an Army wife boring. Watching TV, she decided she could do simple commercials and bluffed her way into a modeling agency in Washington, DC. She entered the world of modeling, which continued when the family moved to San Francisco and segued into acting. Her first movie role, "The Laughing Policeman" took her to Los Angeles. She had several small parts and guest spots on TV shows. Her first starring film role was "Under Fire" with Nick Nolte and Gene Hackman. She subsequently starred in the short-lived TV series "Buffalo Bill" with Dabney Coleman. She had a brief but memorable role in "Blade Runner." Cassidy divorced in 1974, becoming a single parent. "I'm a mother lion when it comes to protecting my children," she says. Link to Wikipedia biography