susan blakely
Susan Blakely is an American actress and former model best known for her award‑winning role in the 1976 TV miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man and a string of 1970s–1980s film and television appearances.
Quick Scoop on Susan Blakely
Who she is
- Susan Blakely was born September 7, 1948, in Frankfurt, Germany, where her U.S. military father was stationed.
- She grew up in a military family, lived in several places including Texas, and later moved to New York to work as a fashion and commercial model.
- She trained as an actress in New York (including study at the Neighborhood Playhouse) before heading to Hollywood in the early 1970s.
Breakthrough and fame
- Her early film work included roles in Savages (1972) and The Way We Were (1973), building her profile in Hollywood.
- She gained major attention as Patty Simmons in the star‑studded disaster film The Towering Inferno (1974).
- Blakely’s true breakout came with the ABC miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man (1976), where she played Julie Prescott opposite Peter Strauss and Nick Nolte.
- The role earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Television Actress in a Drama Series and an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress.
Career highlights
- Film highlights from the 1970s and 1980s include:
- Report to the Commissioner (1975)
* _Capone_ (1975)
* _The Concorde … Airport ’79_ (1979)
* _Over the Top_ (1987), a Sylvester Stallone arm‑wrestling drama where she appeared in a key supporting role.
- On television, beyond Rich Man, Poor Man , she took on varied and sometimes darker parts, including:
- Eva Braun in The Bunker (1981), opposite Anthony Hopkins as Adolf Hitler.
* An amphetamine addict in _A Cry for Love_ (1980).
* A housewife who becomes a werewolf in the horror‑comedy _My Mom’s a Werewolf_ (1989).
* Political spouse Joan Kennedy in _The Ted Kennedy Jr. Story_ (1986).
* Defense attorney Leslie Abramson in _Honor Thy Father and Mother: The True Story of the Menendez Murders_ (1994).
Awards and later work
- Blakely won a Golden Globe in 1977 for her performance in Rich Man, Poor Man and later received another Golden Globe nomination for portraying actress Frances Farmer in Will There Really Be a Morning?.
- She has continued to work in television and film into the 2000s, including roles in projects such as the crime drama Hate Crime (2005) and appearances on TV series like Southland.
- Industry profiles describe her as successfully transitioning from modeling to acting while deliberately seeking complex, often unconventional roles that pushed past “pretty‑girl” typecasting.
Mini table of key facts (HTML)
| Fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Full name | Susan Blakely | [1]
| Birth | September 7, 1948, Frankfurt, Germany | [5][1]
| Known for | Julie Prescott in Rich Man, Poor Man (1976 miniseries) | [3][1]
| Major award | Golden Globe, Best Television Actress – Drama Series (1977) | [5]
| Notable films | The Towering Inferno (1974), Capone (1975), The Concorde … Airport ’79 (1979), Over the Top (1987) | [4][1]
| Notable TV roles | Rich Man, Poor Man, The Bunker, Will There Really Be a Morning?, Honor Thy Father and Mother: The True Story of the Menendez Murders, Southland | [9][7][1]
Trending / forum angle
- Susan Blakely isn’t a constant “viral” name in 2020s celebrity chatter, but she still surfaces in nostalgic discussions about 1970s TV epics and classic disaster movies.
- Online forums and fan wikis tend to highlight her as a quintessential 1970s TV star who managed to balance commercial work, prestige miniseries, and genre projects like horror‑comedy, which keeps her interesting for retro‑TV and film communities.
TL;DR: Susan Blakely is a Golden Globe–winning American actress and former model, most famous for Rich Man, Poor Man and a run of high‑profile 1970s–1980s film and TV roles, now remembered as a versatile face of that era’s screen drama.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.
