Dana Barron

Dana Barron is an American actress born on April 22, 1966, in New York, New York, who began her performing career at age 10 doing television commercials. She comes from a family with deep roots in entertainment: her great-grandparents were musicians, her grandmother was a singer, her grandfather was an opera singer, and her mother relocated from Alabama to pursue acting. Her father, Robert Weeks Barron, worked as a director of commercials and a Congregationalist church pastor, and founded The Weist-Barron School of Television, recognized as the first school in the world dedicated to commercial and soap opera acting for television. Barron is considered a fifth-generation entertainer and has a sister, Allison, who also acted in television commercials from a young age. Barron later graduated from New York University with a degree in marketing.

At age 11, Barron made her Broadway debut in the 1980 drama Hide and Seek, appearing alongside Christine Baranski. Her first film credit came at age 13 in the 1980 horror film He Knows You're Alone, which also marked Tom Hanks's feature film debut. In 1983, she originated the role of Audrey Griswold in the Chevy Chase comedy National Lampoon's Vacation, a role she reprised two decades later in the NBC television movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure in 2003.

Barron appeared on the daytime soap opera One Life to Live from 1984 to 1985, playing the character Michelle Boudin. In 1989, she received a Daytime Emmy Award for her work in the CBS after-school special No Means No. She later took on a recurring role as Nikki Witt on the Fox series Beverly Hills, 90210, during which she was able to contribute to her character's wardrobe and dialogue. In 1992, she starred alongside JoBeth Williams and Chris Burke in the NBC television movie Jonathan: The Boy Nobody Wanted, and in 1998 she appeared in The Magnificent Seven as Casey.

Barron's television guest appearances include The Equalizer, In the Heat of the Night, Murder She Wrote, and Babylon 5, where she played a telepath named Lauren Ashley in the Season 5 episode "The Corps Is Mother, the Corps Is Father." In her personal life, Barron was in a long-term relationship with filmmaker Michael Vickerman, with whom she has a son.