Jenilee Harrison

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (March 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Jenilee A. Harrison (born June 12, 1958)^[1] is an American actress who appeared as Cindy Snow, a replacement for blonde roommate Chrissy Snow on the hit sitcom Three's Company, between 1980 and 1982. She went on to play Jamie Ewing Barnes in Dallas from 1984 to 1986.

Career[]

Early years[]

Before breaking into show business, Harrison was a cheerleader from 1978–1980 for the Los Angeles Rams.^[2] In 1980, Harrison graduated with an education degree from USC. In the same year, she won the title Sweetheart of Sigma Chi. It was while studying at USC that Jenilee first met acting coach Joyce Selznick. Selznick gave her a lot of handy tips on how to polish her acting skills.^{[citation needed]}

Three's Company[]

Harrison joined the cast of ABC's Three's Company in 1980. She entered the show as a replacement for Suzanne Somers who played the sitcom's "ditzy blonde" Chrissy Snow. Somers left the show just after the show's fifth season had begun. Harrison was cast as Somers' replacement. Harrison's character, Cindy Snow, was created to be Chrissy Snow's cousin. Unlike Chrissy, Cindy was not a "dumb blonde"; instead, she was an extremely clumsy farm girl. The character of Cindy was similar enough to Chrissy, however, that producers could use scripts already written with the Chrissy character in mind. Harrison debuted on Three's Company in the episode entitled "Chrissy's Cousin" (season five, episode seven). She enters as Jack and Janet's new roommate after Chrissy's departure. Cindy proves she is a klutz right away by knocking Jack down. Her constant "accidents" (mainly with Jack) added to the show's gags of characters being clumsy. Though she had replaced Somers, Harrison was not given opening-credits billing, and instead Somers still obtained opening billing (as a part of finishing off her contract). Harrison was end-credits billed, as a guest star.

For the sixth season of Three's Company, a new blonde roommate named Terri Alden (Priscilla Barnes), a smart nurse, took Cindy's place in the apartment. Harrison was retained on the show and this time was given opening-cast billing. She now had a lesser role, however, appearing less frequently in the series, with the character living near the apartment at UCLA. By the end of the season Cindy Snow disappeared from the series, her last appearance being in "Janet Wigs Out" (season six, episode 24).

Later career[]

Beginning in 1984, Harrison portrayed the recurring character Jamie Ewing Barnes in the drama Dallas. She played the role until 1986. Her character was actually killed off twice, first when she starts the car belonging to her brother, Jack Ewing, in the episode "Blast from the Past" and it explodes, killing her. After the entire ninth season was explained away as a dream, Harrison returned for her character to die again. Early in 1987, Jamie was killed in a mountain-climbing accident.

In 1984, Harrison played a reluctant prostitute in the movie Tank alongside James Garner and C. Thomas Howell.

In 1985, she appeared on Super Password with Dick Gautier, appearing again in 1986, this time with Marty Cohen, Michael Young, and Bruce Baum, and Dallas star Ken Kercheval in 1987 with Bert Convy. Also, in 1985, she made a brief appearance as a waitress in Loverboy's music video "Lovin' Every Minute Of It".^{[citation needed]}

Harrison also guest-starred on That '70s Show in 1999. In 1991, she starred in the movie Panga opposite Christopher Lee.

Between 1996 and 2005 Harrison began appearing in a couple of "As Seen on TV" infomercials like the AB Flex, the Sobakawa Pillow and the Ultimate Chopper with Chef Tony.

Personal life[]

In the early 1980s, Harrison dated L.A. Rams guard Dennis Harrah and Major League Baseball player Reggie Jackson.^[3]

In 1993,^{[citation needed]} Harrison married Dr. Bruce Oppenheim, a prominent Los Angeles-area chiropractor, who is the ex-husband of actress Cybill Shepherd.^[4] She has two stepchildren from her husband's previous marriage to Shepherd: Molly Ariel Shepherd-Oppenheim and Cyrus Zachariah Shepherd-Oppenheim.

Filmography[]

References[]

External links[]

• Jenilee Harrison at IMDb
• Jenilee Harrison at AllMovie