Stephanie Dunnam

Stephanie Dunnam is an American actress born on March 28, 1959, in Oak Harbor, Washington. After her parents divorced, she relocated to Dallas, Texas at age four. At thirteen, she moved to Japan to live with her father, a weapons officer stationed at an American air base aboard the USS Midway, where exposure to the base's community theatre group first drew her to acting. Back in the United States for high school, Dunnam attended Richardson High School in Richardson, Texas, studying under Barney Hammond, a teacher she credits with shaping her professional work ethic and artistic drive.

Dunnam's screen career began in 1982 with a role in the action film Silent Rage, followed by an appearance in the television movie Miss All-American Beauty. In 1983 she appeared in the horror film Play Dead alongside Yvonne De Carlo, and that same year was cast as Kay Mallory Matthews, one of the lead characters in the CBS prime time soap opera Emerald Point N.A.S. The series ran for 22 episodes before its cancellation in 1984. Also in 1984, she took on the role of Theodora "Teddy" Lunel in the eight-hour CBS miniseries Mistral's Daughter, based on Judith Krantz's 1982 novel, starring opposite Stefanie Powers. From 1987 to 1988, Dunnam appeared in ten episodes of the ABC prime time soap opera Dynasty, playing Karen Atkinson.

Her television work extended to guest appearances on numerous series, including Magnum, P.I., Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Moonlighting, Frasier, Home Improvement, Murder She Wrote, Chicago Hope, ER, The Practice, and Boston Public.

On stage, Dunnam performed on Broadway between 1990 and 1993, with credits including The Heidi Chronicles and The Sisters Rosensweig. Her broader stage work encompasses off-Broadway and regional productions such as The School for Scandal, The Master Builder, The Lady's Not for Burning, The Rivals, The Importance of Being Earnest, Lost Highway, Cat's Cradle, An American Daughter, The Grapes of Wrath, Happy Days, and The Lion in Winter.