Ilene Graff


Biography

Actress Ilene Graff got an early shot at stardom not long after beginning her career in 1979. She was cast as one half of the 1981-1982 NBC comedy "Lewis & Clark," alongside "Welcome Back, Kotter" star Gabe Kaplan. However, the John Carson production company effort lasted 13 episodes. Miraculously, Graff did not have to wait long for her next series role assignment. In 1985, she joined...

Biography

Actress Ilene Graff got an early shot at stardom not long after beginning her career in 1979. She was cast as one half of the 1981-1982 NBC comedy "Lewis & Clark," alongside "Welcome Back, Kotter" star Gabe Kaplan. However, the John Carson production company effort lasted 13 episodes. Miraculously, Graff did not have to wait long for her next series role assignment. In 1985, she joined the cast of the English-American housekeeper comedy "Mr. Belvedere" as the character Marsha Cameron Owens, enjoying a long run of 117 episodes through 1990. Perhaps it was the way that Graff was uniquely suited in some way to the sensibilities of 1980s TV, or the fact that she has chosen to pursue charity work and other endeavors. But her resume since the end of the "Mr. Belvedere" run is limited in scope, consisting of the odd bit of single episode work on second-tier TV series. In 1978, she married composer Ben Lanzarone, whose own 1980s credits include the oil business drama"Dynasty" and the family comedy series "Happy Days."

Life Events

Bibliography