Life and career
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Lyman was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Violet E. (née Brightwell) and Hector H. Lyman, who was a stockbroker. She is Protestant. [2] Jill Larson, who succeeded Lyman in the role of Opal on All My Children, and she attended the same high school. She debuted on her first soap opera, A World Apart , as flower child Julie Stark in 1971. Several years later, Dorothy appeared as Elly Jo Jamison, an evil relation of wealthy Orin Hillyer's, (1972-1973) on The Edge of Night , and as architect Gwen Parrish Frame (1976–1980, 1989) on Another World .
Her most notable soap opera role, though, was on All My Children as Opal Sue Gardner (1981-1983), for which she received two Emmy Awards—as Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role in a Daytime Drama Series in 1982 and for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series in 1983. Lyman performed characters on other soap operas including Rebecca Whitmore (1990–1991) on Generations , and Bonnie Roberts (1991–1992) on The Bold and the Beautiful .
In 1983, Lyman became well known for her role as Naomi Harper on the sitcom Mama's Family , a role she played for the full six seasons. In an appearance on Vicki Lawrence's talk show Vicki!, Lyman noted that she continued to perform on All My Children concurrently with the beginning of Mama's Family's production, flying back and forth each week between New York City and Los Angeles. While the commute was brutal, she remembered it fondly, referring to that stage of her career as "All My Paychecks".
During this time, Lyman appeared in the Tales from the Darkside television series in the "In the Cards" episode (1985). She also played Ralphie's mother in Jean Shepherd's Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss from 1988, appeared in ALF as Maura Norris in the episode "Tequila" (1988), and in Hunter as Sgt. Carol James Meyers in the episode "The Pit" (1989).
When Mama's Family ended its run in 1990, Lyman went behind the camera, producing and directing 75 episodes of The Nanny (all episodes of the third and fourth seasons, and all but four episodes of the fifth), even making a special guest appearance on the Fran Drescher sitcom. Lyman also had a recurring role on Bob , Bob Newhart's third series.
On the big screen, she made a cameo appearance in I Love Trouble , a film starring Nick Nolte and Julia Roberts. She made another cameo appearance in the 2001 film Blow starring Johnny Depp. She was seen in the 2006 films World Trade Center and The Departed .
In 2007, Lyman guest-starred in the third season of the reimagined Battlestar Galactica as Starbuck's mother. She made a guest appearance on Reba , playing the titular character's mother. She appeared in The Blacklist in the season-six episode "The Pawnbrokers". [3]
Lyman performed My Kitchen Wars in Hollywood and New York as a one-woman show based on the book by Betty Fussell. [4]
