Lee Bryant

Last updated
Lee Bryant
Born
OccupationActress
Years active1976–2015

Lee Bryant is an American actress. She is most known for a small role in the 1980 comedy film Airplane! . She also appeared as Sam Waterston's wife in the 1977 conspiracy thriller Capricorn One , and as Jennifer Westfeldt's mother in the romantic comedy Friends with Kids (2011).

Bryant was born in Manhattan, New York. She has guest starred in a number of television series including T. J. Hooker , Marcus Welby, M.D. , Charlie's Angels , Kojak , Three's Company , Starsky & Hutch , Lou Grant , The Incredible Hulk , St. Elsewhere , Moonlighting , Alien Nation , and other series. [1] She played a hysterical passenger in the 1980 film Airplane!, reprising the role in the 1982 sequel. She herself came up with the idea to improve upon the scene by having various people use violence to calm down her character. Her role in Airplane! also parodied a chain of coffee commercials she had starred in throughout the 1970s for Yuban coffee. Directors Abrahams, Zucker and Zucker cast her without realizing Bryant was the original actress from the commercials. [2] [3]

YearTitleRoleNotes
1977 Capricorn One Sharon Willis
1980 Airplane! Mrs. Hammen
1982 Airplane II: The Sequel Mrs. Hammen
1983Death MaskJane Andrews
1998 Holy Man Money 'Meg'
2000Fear of FictionMrs. Hopkins
2006 Off the Black Greeter #2
2006 The Good Shepherd Mrs. John Russell Sr.
2011 Friends with Kids Elaine Keller
2015No Letting GoEmily

Related Research Articles

<i>Airplane!</i> 1980 American satirical comedy film

Airplane! is a 1980 American disaster comedy film written and directed by Jim Abrahams and brothers David and Jerry Zucker in their directorial debut, and produced by Jon Davison. It stars Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty and features Leslie Nielsen, Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Lorna Patterson. It is a parody of the disaster film genre, particularly the 1957 Paramount film Zero Hour!, from which it borrows the plot, central characters, and some dialogue. It also draws many elements from Airport 1975 and other films in the Airport series. It is known for using surreal humor and fast-paced slapstick comedy, including visual and verbal puns, gags, running jokes, and dark humor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leslie Nielsen</span> Canadian actor (1926–2010)

Leslie William Nielsen was a Canadian actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he appeared in more than 100 films and 150 television programs, portraying more than 220 characters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sissy Spacek</span> American actress and singer (born 1949)

Mary Elizabeth "Sissy" Spacek is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and nominations for four BAFTA Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Grammy Award. Spacek was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamie Lee Curtis</span> American actress and author (born 1958)

Jamie Lee Curtis is an American actress, producer, and children's author. Known for her performances in the horror and slasher genres, she is regarded as a scream queen, in addition to roles in comedies. Curtis has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, as well as a nomination for a Grammy Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Remick</span> American actress (1935–1991)

Lee Ann Remick was an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for the film Days of Wine and Roses (1962).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rene Russo</span> American actress and model (born 1954)

Rene Marie Russo is an American actress and model. She began her career as a fashion model in the 1970s, appearing on magazine covers such as Vogue and Cosmopolitan. She made her film debut in the 1989 comedy Major League, and rose to international prominence in a number of thrillers and action films throughout the 1990s, including Lethal Weapon 3 (1992), In the Line of Fire (1993), Outbreak (1995), Get Shorty (1995), Ransom (1996), Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), and The Thomas Crown Affair (1999).

<i>The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!</i> 1988 film directed by David Zucker

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! is a 1988 American crime comedy film directed by David Zucker, and produced and released by Paramount Pictures. The film stars Leslie Nielsen as the bumbling police lieutenant Frank Drebin, who sets out to uncover a criminal plot involving people being mind controlled to assassinate targets. Priscilla Presley, Ricardo Montalbán, George Kennedy, and O. J. Simpson also star in supporting roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sally Field</span> American actress (born 1946)

Sally Margaret Field is an American actress. Known for her extensive work on screen and stage, she has received many accolades throughout her career spanning six decades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and three Primetime Emmy Awards, in addition to nominations for a Tony Award and two British Academy Film Awards. She was presented with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2014, the National Medal of Arts in 2014, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2019, and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Archer</span> American actress (born 1947)

Anne Archer is an American actress. Archer was named Miss Golden Globe in 1971, and in the year following, appeared in her feature film debut The Honkers (1972). She had supporting roles in Cancel My Reservation (1972), The All-American Boy (1973), and Trackdown (1976), and appeared in Good Guys Wear Black (1978), Paradise Alley (1978) and Hero at Large (1980).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Blair</span> American actress and animal rights activist (born 1959)

Linda Denise Blair is an American actress and activist. Her portrayal of Regan MacNeil in the horror film The Exorcist (1973) established her in popular culture and as a scream queen, earning her a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination. She reprised the role in two sequels: Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) and The Exorcist: Believer (2023).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shelley Long</span> American actress and comedian (born 1949)

Shelley Long is an American actress, singer, and comedian. For her role as Diane Chambers on the sitcom Cheers, Long received five Emmy nominations, winning in 1983 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. She also won two Golden Globe Awards for the role. Long reprised her role as Diane Chambers in three episodes of the spin-off Frasier, for which she received an additional guest star Emmy nomination. In 2009, she began playing the recurring role of DeDe Pritchett on the ABC comedy series Modern Family.

<i>Police Squad!</i> 1982 American television crime comedy series

Police Squad! is an American television crime comedy series that was broadcast on the ABC network in 1982. It was created by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, starring Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebin. A spoof of police procedurals and many other television shows and movies, the series features Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker's usual sight gags, wordplay, and non sequiturs. It resembles the Lee Marvin police show M Squad and the late 1960s series Felony Squad. It was canceled after six episodes, and yielded The Naked Gun film series from 1988 to 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine Hicks</span> American actress (born 1951)

Catherine Mary Hicks is an American retired actress. She played the character Annie Camden on the long-running television series 7th Heaven. Other roles included Dr. Faith Coleridge on the soap opera Ryan's Hope (1976–1978), her Emmy Award-nominated performance as Marilyn Monroe in Marilyn: The Untold Story (1980), Dr. Gillian Taylor in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), Carol Heath in Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), and Karen Barclay in Child's Play (1988).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Hays</span> American actor (born 1947)

Robert Blakely Hays is an American actor, known for a variety of television and film roles since the 1970s. He came to prominence around 1980, co-starring in the two-season domestic sitcom Angie, and playing the central role of pilot Ted Striker in the hit spoof film Airplane! and its sequel. Other film roles include the lead role in the comedy Take This Job and Shove It (1981), and Bob Seaver, one of the main human characters in Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993). On television, he starred in the science fiction series Starman (1986–1987) and the short-lived workplace sitcom FM (1989–1990), played the voice of Tony Stark on Iron Man (1994), and had a guest role as Bud Hyde on That '70s Show (2000).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Oliver</span> American actress, author and aviator (1932–1990)

Susan Oliver was an American actress, television director, aviator, and author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Hagerty</span> American actress (born 1955)

Julie Beth Hagerty is an American actress. She starred as Elaine Dickinson in the films Airplane! (1980) and Airplane II: The Sequel (1982). Her other film roles include A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982), Lost in America (1985), What About Bob? (1991), She’s the Man (2006), A Master Builder (2014), Instant Family (2018), Noelle, Marriage Story, and A Christmas Story Christmas (2022).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristen Wiig</span> American actress and comedian (born 1973)

Kristen Carroll Wiig is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. First breaking through as a performer with the Los Angeles comedy troupe The Groundlings, Wiig achieved stardom during her seven-season tenure on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2005 to 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valerie Mahaffey</span> American actress (born 1953)

Valerie Mahaffey is an American character actress and producer. She began her career starring in the NBC daytime soap opera The Doctors (1979–81), for which in 1980 she was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.

Melissa De Sousa is an American actress. She made her big screen debut playing the leading role in the 1998 comedy film Ride. She starred as Shelby in the 1999 romantic comedy-drama film The Best Man and later reprised her role in its 2013 sequel The Best Man Holiday and the 2022 Peacock series The Best Man: The Final Chapters.

Charlotte Ann Zucker was an American actress. She was the mother of filmmakers David and Jerry Zucker, and appeared in many of their films.

References

  1. "Lee Bryant Movies & TV". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Archived from the original on July 12, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2011.
  2. "Surely you can't be serious: An oral history of Airplane!". The A.V. Club .
  3. "'Airplane!' Actress Talks About Becoming a Meme Following United Fiasco".