Cindy Pickett

{{short description|American actress}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Cindy Pickett

| image =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1947|04|18}}

| birth_place = Sand Springs, Oklahoma, U.S.

| spouse = {{marriage|Lyman Ward
|1986|1992|end=divorced}}

| children = 2

| occupation = Actress

| years_active = 1976–present

}}

Cindy Pickett (born April 18, 1947){{cite book|editor-first=Mike|editor-last=Kaplan|title=Variety's Who's who in Show Business|year=1985|publisher=R.R. Bowker|page=297|isbn=978-0-8352-2665-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Db1kAAAAMAAJ}} is an American actress. She is known for her 1970s role as Jackie Marler-Spaulding on the CBS soap Guiding Light and Dr. Carol Novino on the television drama St. Elsewhere in the 1980s.{{cite news |last1=Scott |first1=Vernon |title=Actress says 'Amerika' provides her best role |url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1987-02-18-8701110370-story.html |work=Sun-Sentinel |publisher=United Press International |date=February 18, 1987}} Pickett, however, is best known to audiences for her lighter turn as Katie Bueller, Ferris Bueller's loving and unsuspecting mother, in the 1986 American comedy movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Other notable cinematic roles and performances include Valerie St. John, the leading role in Roger Vadim's 1980 film, Jeux de Nuit / Night Games, and the heroic, tough-as-nails Dr. Diane Norris, executive officer of the under-siege, deep-sea scientific research station in the 1989 sci-fi-horror film DeepStar Six.

Life and career

Pickett was born in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, daughter of Cecil Pickett, a director and drama teacher at the University of Houston.{{cite web | url=https://www.chron.com/life/article/former-uh-students-salute-the-late-cecil-pickett-3469425.php | title=Former UH students salute the late Cecil Pickett | date=9 April 2012 }}

Pickett made a major departure from her soap opera image when she played the central role in the 1980 erotic film Jeux de Nuit / Night Games, directed by Roger Vadim.{{cite news |last1=Maslin |first1=Janet |title=Screen: 'Night Games,' Roger Vadim's Bel Air: With Feathers |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/04/11/archives/screen-night-games-roger-vadims-bel-airwith-feathers.html |work=The New York Times |date=April 11, 1980}} It was a sexually charged role involving numerous nude scenes, however the film went unnoticed and did not boost Pickett's career. In the 1981 mystery/crime drama Margin for Murder, Pickett played the role of Velda, Mike Hammer's (Kevin Dobson) loyal and devoted secretary. She played "Jackie Marler" on the soap opera The Guiding Light from 1976 to 1980,{{cite web |title=Who's Who in Springfield: Jacqueline Marler |url=https://www.soapcentral.com/gl/whoswho/jacqueline.php |website=soapcentral.com}} "Vanessa Sarnac" on the ABC weekly TV series Call to Glory from 1984 to 1985,{{cite book |last1=Terrance |first1=Vincent |title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 |date=2014 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9780786486410 |page=154 |edition=Second |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YX_daEhlnbsC&pg=PA154}} and she appeared as Dr. Carol Novino on the hospital drama TV series St. Elsewhere from 1986 to 1988.{{cite web |last1=Hall |first1=Ken |title=The Celebrity Collector: Cindy Pickett |url=http://www.go-star.com/antiquing/cindy-pickett.htm |website=go-star.com |publisher=Southeastern Antiquing and Collecting Magazine |date=July 2011}}

Pickett had a supporting role in the 1987 mini-series Amerika, which she then considered to be her "best part and the best showcase" she ever had. In 1991 she played the part of Addy Mathewson in the TV movie/pilot Plymouth, which at the time was considered to be one of the most expensive such movies ever made. Pickett portrayed the real-life Kay Stayner, the mother of a boy who was kidnapped for several years, in the dramatic TV movie I Know My First Name Is Steven. TV series she has guest-starred on include Riptide, Simon & Simon, Magnum, P.I., L.A. Law, Murder, She Wrote, The Pretender, NYPD Blue, CSI: Miami, Without a Trace, Crossing Jordan and Burn Notice.

Personal life

Pickett dated Roger Vadim, who directed her in Night Games. She met Lyman Ward when they played the parents of the teenaged protagonist in the 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off. They married in real life, and had two children, divorcing shortly after playing the parents of the teenaged protagonist in the 1992 film Sleepwalkers.{{cite web |last1=Coriaty |first1=Spencer |title=Where Are They Now? The Cast of Ferris Bueller's Day Off |url=https://screenrant.com/ferris-buellers-day-off-where-are-they-off/ |website=screenrant.com |date=March 28, 2016}} Pickett is a collector of stereopticon cards.

Filmography

=Film=

class="wikitable sortable"
Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

1980

|Night Games

|Valerie St. John

|

1981

|Circle of Power

|Lyn Nilsson

|

1983

|Hysterical

|Kate

|

1986

|Ferris Bueller's Day Off

|Katie Bueller

|

1986

|{{sortname|The|Men's Club}}

|Hannah

|

1988

|Hot to Trot

|Victoria Peyton

|

1989

|DeepStar Six

|Diane Norris

|

1991

|Crooked Hearts

|Jill

|

1992

|Original Intent

|Marguerite

|Video

1992

|Sleepwalkers

|Helen Robertson

|

1993

|Son in Law

|Connie Warner

|

1993

|{{sortname|The|Goodbye Bird|nolink=1}}

|Sharon Phillips

|

1995

|Evolver

|Melanie Baxter

|

1996

|Kid Cop

|Beverly Dwerkin

|Video

1996

|Coyote Summer

|Maggie Foster

|

1997

|Painted Hero

|Sadie

|

2000

|{{sortname|The|Stepdaughter|nolink=1}}

|Maggie Conner

|Video

2005

|Hate Crime

|Barbara McCoy

|

2008

|{{sortname|The|Village Barbershop}}

|Josie

|

2010

|Confession

|Greta

|

2011

|Mother Country

|Pamela Dupree

|

2016

|Chasing the Rain

|Bonnie

|

2016

|Like a Butterfly

|Wendy

|Short

2016

|White Wings

|Janice

|Short

2016

|Confession

|Julie Warren

|Short

2016

|Te Ata

|Miss Davis

|

2017

|Opus of an Angel

|Sister Monica

|Post-production

20??

|Rose

|Karen

|Post-production

=Television=

class="wikitable sortable"
Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

1976–80

|Guiding Light

|Jackie Marler-Spaulding

|TV series

1980

|{{sortname|The|Ivory Ape}}

|Lil Tyler

|TV film

1981

|Margin for Murder

|Velda

|TV film

1981

|{{sortname|The|Cherokee Trail|nolink=1}}

|Mary Breydon

|TV film

1982

|Cry for the Strangers

|Elaine Russell

|TV film

1983

|Cocaine and Blue Eyes

|Catherine Anatole

|TV film

1983

|Bring 'Em Back Alive

|Laura Davies

|"Bones of Contention"

1984

|Riptide

|Natalie Kramer

|"Somebody's Killing the Great Geeks of America"

1984

|Simon & Simon

|Addie Becker

|"The Dillinger Print"

1984

|Magnum, P.I.

|Karen Teal

|"Dream a Little Dream"

1984–85

|Call to Glory

|Vanessa Sarnac

|Main role

1986

|Alfred Hitchcock Presents

|Marcia Loomis

|"The Gloating Place"

1986–88

|St. Elsewhere

|Dr. Carol Novino

|Main role

1987

|Amerika

|Amanda Bradford

|TV miniseries

1987

|Echoes in the Darkness

|Sue Myers

|TV film

1987

|Into the Homeland

|Rye Swallow

|TV film

1989

|I Know My First Name Is Steven

|Kay Stayner

|TV miniseries

1990

|ABC Afterschool Special

|Joanne Kelly

|"A Question About Sex"

1991

|Plymouth

|Addy Matthewson

|TV film

1991

|Our Shining Moment

|Betty McGuire

|TV film

1992

|Wild Card

|Dana

|TV film

1992

|L.A. Law

|Lois Alner

|"Love on the Rox"

1994

|Murder, She Wrote

|Joanna Sims

|"Wheel of Death"

1995

|Sirens

|Pam Dunbridge

|"The Witness"

1995

|Not Our Son

|Margaret Keller

|TV film

1995

|Her Hidden Truth

|Laney Devereaux

|TV film

1996

|{{sortname|The|Making of a Hollywood Madam|nolink=1}}

|Elissa Fleiss

|TV film

1996

|Time Well Spent

|Barbara Marks

|TV film

1997

|{{sortname|The|Pretender|The Pretender (TV series)}}

|Dr. Shafton

|"Unhappy Landings"

1998

|Atomic Dog

|Jennifer Yates

|TV film

1998–99

|Hyperion Bay

|Marjorie Sweeney

|Main role

2001

|{{sortname|The|Huntress|The Huntress (TV series)}}

|Gina Thorson

|"The Two Mrs. Thorsons: Part 1"

2004

|Crossing Jordan

|Laura Corday

|"Dead in the Water"

2005

|NYPD Blue

|Francine Beckett

|"La Bomba"

2005

|CSI: Miami

|Miranda Lewis

|"Whacked"

2006

|McBride: Fallen Idol

|Tracy Franks

|TV film

2006

|Ghost Whisperer

|Marybeth Kaminsky

|"The Woman of His Dreams"

2007

|Cold Case

|Sara Lowell / Johanna Kimball

|"Blood on the Tracks"

2007

|Medium

|Tanya King

|"1-900-Lucky"

2008

|Burn Notice

|Diane

|"Trust Me"

2010

|Elf Sparkle and the Special Red Dress

|Snowball (voice)

|TV film

2013

|My Synthesized Life

|Louise Bales

|"Meet the Parents"

2014

|{{sortname|The|Mentalist}}

|Rachel

|"Black Helicopters"

2014

|Stranded in Paradise

|Mona Nelson

|TV film

2016

|Outcast

|Lauren

|"Close to Home"

2017

|Age of the Living Dead

|Amanda

|TV series

20??

|Star Trek Equinox: The Night of Time

|Adm. Gray

|TV film, filming

References

{{reflist}}