Leah Ayres

Leah Ayres
Leah Ayres at the Chiller Theatre Expo in 2017
Born	Leah Simpson (1957-05-28) May 28, 1957 (age 64) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Other names	Leah Ayres Hendrix; Leah Kalish
Alma mater	Tufts University New York University Pacific Oaks College
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1979–1998
Spouse(s)	Bruce Kalish ​ (m. 1990)​
Children	1

Leah Ayres (born Leah Simpson; May 28, 1957) is an American actress, best known for her role as Janice Kent in the sports thriller Bloodsport and as Valerie Bryson on the daytime serial The Edge of Night.

Early years[]

Ayres was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She attended both Tufts University and New York University, earning a degree in dance from the latter.^[1] Ayres also earned an M.A. degree from Pacific Oaks College in Pasadena, California in 1996.^{[citation needed]}

Television[]

Ayres' first major role was as Valerie Bryson on the daytime serial The Edge of Night in the early 1980s. In 1984, she starred in Velvet,^[2] an ABC/Aaron Spelling television movie opposite Sheree J. Wilson, Shari Belafonte and Mary Margaret Humes. In primetime, she co-starred as Linda Bowman on the abbreviated third season of ABC's 9 to 5. She also played Jill Schrader on the HBO original comedy 1st & Ten in 1986-87.

In 1990 she replaced Maureen McCormick for the role of Marcia Brady on the short lived series The Bradys. She also made guest appearances on such series as Hotel, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Married... with Children and Who's the Boss?. In 1995, she had a recurring role as Tara Flynn on three episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger.

Film[]

Ayres starred in Bloodsport (1988) alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme^[3] and played Michelle in the 1981 film The Burning. She also appeared in Eddie Macon's Run (1983).^[1]

Later years[]

She is now known as Leah Kalish and was the Program Director for Yoga Ed. in Los Angeles. She is also the co-creator of the Yoga Kit for Kids and Games for Life, a book of games and visualizations for children. She also wrote and stars in Living Arts/Gaiam's Yoga Fitness for Kids videos. She is now the creator of Yoga Playgrounds and developing children's television programs.

Personal life[]

Ayres and her husband, TV screenwriter and producer Bruce Kalish, have a son, Mackenzie Austin Kalish, who was born on June 21, 1993.

Filmography[]

References[]

External links[]

• Leah Ayres at IMDb
• Leah Ayres at AllMovie

This article about a United States film and television actor born in the 1950s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

• v
• t