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Christine Belford

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Christine Belford
Belford in 1973
Born
Christine Riley

Amityville, New York, U.S.
Other namesChristina Belford
OccupationActress
Years active1971–present
Spouse
​
(m. 1993)​

Christine Belford (born Christine Riley) is an American television and film actress. She has sometimes been credited as Christina Belford.

Early life

Christine Riley was born in Amityville, Long Island, New York to Joseph J. Riley and Mary Belford Riley (née Wilson; later Malone),[1][2] who later divorced. She has a brother, Terry, and a sister, Shawn. The family once lived at 112 Ocean Avenue, the location which later became famous as the setting of The Amityville Horror, for about five years from age 11 until age 16. As a young child and teenager on Long Island, she was active in equestrian trials and won many horsemanship awards.[3] "She was enrolled at the best schools and joined the best swimming and yachting clubs on Long Island."[4] After graduating from high school in 1966, she attended Hofstra University, initially interested in pursuing a career in psychiatry. However, the classwork she did with Joseph Leon, the head of the drama department, inspired her to become an actress.[3]

In 1970, after college she moved to New York City and did some modeling work but no acting. Additionally, she said, "In order to keep a roof over my head and to eat, I took any job I could get. I was a waitress, a bar maid, and I also drove an ice truck."[5] For both personal and professional reasons, she moved to Los Angeles near the end of 1970. There, at the suggestion of a friend, actress Carrie Snodgress, she auditioned at Universal Pictures, performing a scene from the film The Country Girl for the head of talent, Monique James. Christine then received a seven-year acting contract from Universal Pictures,[3] "A very precious commodity issued only to a chosen few."[6]

Television career

Her first appearance on television was as an extra on the Vince Edwards series Matt Lincoln. Her first credited appearance on television was in the NBC television movie Vanished in 1971. She played insurance investigator Carlie Kirkland during the second season (1973–74) of Banacek. She appeared in the 1980 TV-movie The Gambler with Kenny Rogers and also played Ricky Stratton's mother, Evelyn on Silver Spoons and Jackie on Empire.[7][4]

She appeared in guest roles on many popular television shows of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, including Ironside, Banacek, Mannix, Barnaby Jones, Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law, The Six Million Dollar Man, CHiPs, Wonder Woman, Magnum, P.I., Hart to Hart, The Incredible Hulk, Family Ties, The Golden Girls, Blossom, Beverly Hills, 90210, Battlestar Galactica (specifically as one of the prison-barge inmates recruited to destroy "The Gun On Ice Planet Zero"), The Paper Chase: The Television Series, My Two Dads, Night Court (specifically the 1992 episode "Opportunity Knock Knocks," where she was credited as Christina Belford), Harry O, Murder, She Wrote, Diagnosis: Murder and Quincy, Holding Pattern.

She appeared in the episode "Devil Pack" from the 1977 series Quinn Martin's Tales of the Unexpected (known in the United Kingdom as Twist in the Tale), as well as in various television films through the years. Her last appearance on television was in the horse-racing TV movie Ruffian, starring Sam Shepard and broadcast on the ABC network in 2007.[citation needed]

She played on Dynasty as the nurse for Fallon's baby at the end of Season 2 and Season 3. In 1983, she co-hosted, in Los Angeles, with Steve Edwards, Cathy Kronkite, and Ruth Batchelor, an unsuccessful pilot for a daytime-magazine series, Personal & Confidential, over five days (August 1–5, 1983).[8]

Film

  • Vanished (1971 TV movie) as Gretchen Greer
  • Pocket Money (1972) as Adelita
  • The Groundstar Conspiracy (1972) as Nicole Devon
  • The Million Dollar Rip-Off (1976 TV movie) as Lil
  • To Kill a Cop (1978 TV movie) as Agnes Cusack
  • High Midnight (1979 TV movie) as Sgt. Liz Spencer
  • Kenny Rogers as The Gambler (1980 TV movie) as Eliza
  • Desperate Voyage (1980 TV movie)
  • The Neighborhood (1982 TV movie) as Meg Penner
  • Sparkling Cyanide (1983 TV movie) as Rosemary Barton
  • Christine (1983) as Regina Cunningham
  • 100 Centre Street (1984 TV movie) as Fran Felt
  • Mr. and Mrs. Ryan (1986 TV movie) as Margo Slater
  • The Ladies Club (1986) as Dr. Constance Lewis
  • The Woman Who Sinned (1991 TV movie) as Randy Emerson
  • Ruffian (2007 TV movie) as Barbara Janney

Television

Voiceover career

From the 1990s to the present, Belford has done much voiceover work, including commercials, animations, promotional spots, and narrations. [citation needed]

Personal life

Belford has been married to actor Nicholas Pryor since July 1993.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Joseph Riley's Obituary on The Capital Gazette". The Capital Gazette.
  2. ^ "Mary Belford Malone".
  3. ^ a b c Pack, Harvey "Christine Belford: Starlet of '72" Sarasota Herald-Tribune (July 2, 1972) page 47 (also available online at the Google Books newspaper archive)
  4. ^ a b King, Richard (January 19, 1984). "Blonde back to natural". The Index-Journal. p. 7. Retrieved August 23, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  5. ^ Manners, Dorothy (August 3, 1972). "Christine Belford: Life Is One Big Smile". Evening Herald. p. 7. Retrieved August 23, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  6. ^ "Christine Belford - She Can Act". The Kokomo Tribune. September 24, 1972. p. 56. Retrieved August 23, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  7. ^ "Christine Belford Biography". Fandango.com. Retrieved 2018-12-23.
  8. ^ Terrace, Vincent (1985) "Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials" Verlag für die Deutsche Wirtschaft AG, ISBN 0-918432-61-8, page 325
  9. ^ Hollywood.com Staff (3 February 2015). "Christine Belford - Biography and Filmography - 1949".
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