Leann Hunley
{{short description|American television actress (born 1955)}}
{{BLP sources |date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Leann Hunley
| image = Leannhunley01.jpg
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1955|02|25}}
| birth_place = Forks, Washington, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| known_for = {{hlist|Days of Our Lives|Dynasty|The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo|Dawson's Creek}}
| years_active = 1977–present
| awards = Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
| occupation = {{hlist|Actress|model}}
| spouse = {{marriage|Bill Sheridan|1980|2001}}
}}
Leann Hunley (born February 25, 1955{{Cite web |date=1955-02-25 |title=What Happened on February 25, 1955 |url=https://www.onthisday.com/date/1955/february/25 |access-date=2023-07-02 |website=OnThisDay.com |language=en}}) is an American television actress. Although she has worked in numerous productions, she is perhaps best known for portraying Anna DiMera on NBC's Days of Our Lives and Dana Waring on the ABC primetime soap opera, Dynasty.
Early life
Hunley was born in Forks, Washington. Her father was a commercial fisherman and her mother a beautician. She is the youngest of four siblings. Her previous occupation is an answering service operator. Leann has worked as a model and won second runner up in the Miss Hawaii USA Pageant in 1977.{{cite web|url=https://soaps.sheknows.com/days-of-our-lives/actors/leann-hunley/|title=Days of Our Lives·Actors·Leann Hunley |date=2 November 2016 |publisher=Soaps.sheknows.com|access-date=2023-05-30}}
Career
Hunley's first television appearance was on Hawaii Five-O, in which she played separate characters in two different episodes during the series' 10th season, 1977-78. After appearing as an unnamed female Colonial Warrior in four episodes of Battlestar Galactica, Hunley guest-starred on Mrs. Columbo and B. J. and the Bear before becoming a regular on the latter's spinoff The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo. Her role as Anna DiMera on Days of Our Lives from 1982{{Cite web|last=Snyder|first=Jen|date=December 10, 2009|url=https://tvsourcemagazine.com/2009/12/818-leann-hunley-back-at-days/|title=Leann Hunley Back At DAYS|website=TV Source Magazine|access-date=2021-05-26}} to 1986 won her an Emmy Award at the 13th Daytime Emmy Awards for best supporting actress in 1986. For two seasons of Dynasty, Hunley portrayed Dana Waring, Adam Carrington's wife. She appeared on Aaron Spelling's short-lived Models, Inc.. In the first season of Dawson's Creek (1998) she was Tamara Jacobs, a high school English teacher who has a tempestuous affair with her student Pacey Witter. She also played Shira Huntzberger on Gilmore Girls in 2005, and has guest-starred in various comedy and drama series such as Just Shoot Me!, Strong Medicine, Raising Hope, NCIS, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
After a 21-year absence from playing the role, Hunley returned to Days of Our Lives as Anna on June 21, 2007, recurring on the series until mid-2010. She again returned to play the role of Anna DiMera for a story arc beginning in January 2017, and has continued to make appearances on the NBC daytime serial as of September 2022, while also playing the same character in the spinoff series Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem airing on the Peacock streaming service since 2021.
Filmography
= Film =
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1993
| Miss Arlington | |
| 1995
| Cops n Roberts | {{TableTBA|N/A}} | |
| 2001
| Your Guardian | Tanna Hildegard | |
| 2012
| Blissful Lies | Addison Hamilton | |
= Television =
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1977
| Longworth's Secretary | Episode: "The Cop on the Cover" |
| 1978
| Hawaii Five-O | Lucy Sutherland | Episode: "Frozen Assets" |
| 1978
| The Islander | Mac's Wife | Television film |
| 1978–1979
| 1st Girl Warrior | 4 episodes |
| 1979
| Dr. Winters | Episode: "Crackers" |
| 1979
| Judy | Episode: "The Valley Strangler" |
| 1979–1980
| The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo | Sarah Cumberland | Main role |
| 1982
| Secretary | Episode: "The Curse of the Moreaus/My Man Friday" |
| 1982–1986, 2007–2010, {{br}}2017–present
| Regular role |
| 1983
| Diane | Episode: "As the Hart Turns" |
| 1984
| Airwolf | Meryl | Episode: "One Way Express" |
| 1985
| Woman | Episode: "Remote Control Man" |
| 1986
| Liz Preston | Episode: "Fright Knight" |
| 1986
| Hotel | Catherine | Episode: "Opening Moves" |
| 1986-1988
| Dynasty | Main role (seasons 7–8); guest role (season 9) |
| 1988
| Jennifer | Episode: "We Have Forever: Parts 1 & 2" |
| 1988
| Shannon McBride | Episode: "A Little Night Work" |
| 1988
| Violet Harlowe / R.J. Simmons | Episode: "Play It Again, Simon" |
| 1989
| Herself | Game show pilot |
| 1989
| Lisa | Episode: "Winter Break" |
| 1989
| Wolf | {{TableTBA|N/A}} | Television film |
| 1990
| Gaby Langford | Episode: "The Mistress" |
| 1990
| Matlock | Leanne Wilson | Episode: "The Talk Show" |
| 1990
| Dana Darren | Episode: "Murder: According to Maggie" |
| 1990
| Eden | TV miniseries |
| 1990
| L.A. Law | Maura Fitzgerald | Episode: "New Kidney on the Block" |
| 1991
| Gwen Kidder | Episode: "Postcards from the Faultline" |
| 1991
| Andrea Sussman | Episode: Pilot |
| 1992
| Coopersmith | Laraine Sands | Television film |
| 1993
| Silent Victim | Chrissy Lee | Television film |
| 1993
| Pam | Episodes: "The Tortoise and the Scare", "Thanks, But No Thanks" |
| 1994
| Bobbi Jo | Episode: "I Don't Remember Mama" |
| 1994
| Marcia Carson | 4 episodes |
| 1994
| Sarah Barnett | Episode: "A Match Made in Heaven" |
| 1994
| Lydia De Kooning | Episode: "Amsterdam Kill" |
| 1995
| Linda | Episode: "Rumble in the Alley" |
| 1995
| Joan | Episode: "As the Will Turns" |
| 1995
| Leslie Livingston | Episode: "Who Killed the Centerfold?" |
| 1996
| Elizabeth Owens | Episode: "One for the Monet" |
| 1996
| Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | Emily Channing | Episode: "Swear to God, This Time We're Not Kidding" |
| 1997
| Rachel Grewe | Episode: "Say Good-Bye" |
| 1998
| Tamara Jacobs | Recurring role (seasons 1–2), 9 episodes |
| 1999
| Lauren Wells | Episode: "Mishap" |
| 1999
| Jacy Woods | Television film |
| 2003
| Renee Van Dyke | Episode: "Blocked Lines" |
| 2003
| Binnie | Episode: "Strange Bedfellows" |
| 2005
| Shira Huntzberger | Episodes: "But I'm a Gilmore!", "We've Got Magic to Do" |
| 2009
| Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Joyce Shepard | Episode: "Sugar" |
| 2010
| NCIS | Young Joann Fielding | Episode: "Mother's Day" |
| 2012
| Francine | Episode: "The Walk for the Runs" |
| 2021
| Days of Our Lives: Beyond Salem | Anna DiMera | Miniseries |
Awards and nominations
{{BLP unreferenced section|date=May 2023}}
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ |
| Year
!Award !Category !Production !Result |
|---|
| 1986
| Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | {{Won}} |
| 1986
| Outstanding Comic Relief Role on a Daytime Serial | {{nom}} |
| 1989
| Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role: Prime Time | Dynasty | {{nom}} |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0402264|Leann Hunley}}
- {{TV Guide person|leann-hunley/210514|Leann Hunley}}
- {{rotten-tomatoes-person|leann_hunley}}
{{Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actress}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunley, Leann}}
Category:American film actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:American soap opera actresses
Category:People from Clallam County, Washington
Category:Daytime Emmy Award winners
Category:Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series winners
Category:Female models from Washington (state)
Category:20th-century American actresses