Charlene Tilton

Charlene Tilton
Tilton in 2010
Born	Charlene L. Tilton (1958-12-01) December 1, 1958 San Diego, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actress, singer
Years active	1976–present
Known for	Lucy Ewing in Dallas
Spouse(s)	Johnny Lee (1982–1984) Domenick Allen (1985–1992)
Children	1

Charlene L. Tilton (born December 1, 1958) is an American actress and singer. She is widely known for playing Lucy Ewing on the CBS prime time soap opera Dallas.

Career

Tilton had early roles on such television series such Happy Days and Eight Is Enough. She made her first film appearance alongside Jodie Foster in Freaky Friday (1976). In 1978, Tilton made a cameo appearance in the John Milius film Big Wednesday. The same year, she made her big break by landing the role of Lucy Ewing, the sly, vixenish, frequently frustrated granddaughter of John "Jock" Ewing Sr. and the former Eleanor "Ellie" Southworth (and out-of-wedlock daughter of Gary and Valene Ewing on Knots Landing) on the television series Dallas, alongside actors Jim Davis, Barbara Bel Geddes, and Larry Hagman, from 1978 to 1985 and from 1988 to 1990. She also appeared on one episode of the series' spin-off Knots Landing in 1980. At the height of her Dallas fame, she received a $50,000 salary per episode, appeared on 500 magazine covers, and drew 65 million viewers for her 1981 TV wedding.

Tilton is also a singer, lending her vocal ability to a 1978 episode of Dallas titled "Runaway", in which Greg Evigan guest-starred. In 1984, she released the dance-pop single "C'est la Vie", which became a hit in several European countries, though not in the United States. She appeared on Circus of the Stars in 1979 and 1991, on one occasion acting as a knife thrower's target girl while dressed in a gold bikini. Tilton also appeared on game shows, such as Family Feud, Battle of the Network Stars, Hollywood Squares, Pyramid, 1 vs. 100, and Catch 21 including being a panelist on the 1979–1982 syndicated version of Match Game. She also hosted the unsold pilot for a potential revival of the show in syndication as MG2 in 1996. After her breakthrough with Dallas, Tilton went to star in the television films Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker and The Fall of the House of Usher both released in 1979. During the 1980s, she guest-starred on Fantasy Island, The Fall Guy, Hotel, The Love Boat and Murder, She Wrote.

Tilton was the guest host on an episode of Saturday Night Live on February 21, 1981, which featured a parody of the famed "Who shot J.R.?" episode of Dallas. In the episode, cast member Charles Rocket was shot in the chest by a sniper while doing a sketch about a sexy couple (with Gail Matthius as his partner) bathing a dog and spouting innuendo. At the end of the show, during the "goodbyes", Tilton asked Rocket how he felt about being shot. In character, Rocket improvised, "Oh, man, it's the first time I've ever been shot in my life. I'd like to know who fucking did it." The improvisation by Rocket, which violated FCC broadcast standards, led to his dismissal from the show's cast.

After Dallas, Tilton appeared in the 1990 western film Border Shootout starring Glenn Ford, and the following year had supporting role in the comedy film Problem Child 2. She appeared in a number of commercials for the Abdominizer line of direct-market workout equipment in the 1990s. In 1993, she appeared as herself in an episode of Married... with Children titled "Tis Time to Smell the Roses", which sent up her involvement with the Abdominizer. In addition, she has appeared in several send-up comedies, such as The Silence of the Hams (1994), Superhero Movie (2008), and Paranormal Calamity (2010). In 2005, she appeared in the British reality television show The Farm.

In 2001, Tilton was honored by the Young Artist Foundation with its Former Child Star "Lifetime Achievement" Award for her role as Lucy Ewing on the original Dallas television series. In January 2012, Tilton was a contestant on the British ice-skating show Dancing on Ice in its seventh season, in which she was paired with American figure skater Matthew Gonzalez. Tilton was voted out of the competition, though, in week five of a 12-week run.

In 2012, Tilton joined the cast of TNT's Dallas revival series, and reprised her role as Lucy Ewing in a number of episodes. She later appeared in the ABC comedy series The Middle in 2015, and the thriller film Vengeance: A Love Story. Tilton also appeared in a number of Lifetime and Hallmark Channel films in later years.

Personal life

Tilton was born in San Diego, California, the daughter of Katherine Thacker, a secretary.

Tilton was married to country singer Johnny Lee from 1982 to 1984. Their daughter, Cherish Lee, was born in 1982. In 2001, Tilton began dating cinematographer Cheddy Hart. The couple enjoyed boating and lived together in a modest home in Oxnard, California. In December 2009, Hart suddenly died of heart failure at age 54.

Tilton is a strong advocate for autism awareness in the media. She is currently the ambassador for Actors for Autism, an organization that leads improv and acting workshops for children and adults with autism. She approached AFA in 2010 with the desire to volunteer and has been affiliated with them ever since.

Friendship with Larry Hagman

While in high school, the young unknown actress met Larry Hagman, whom she regarded as a surrogate father. Then, a few years later, at age 17, she auditioned and won the role of Hagman's confused niece, Lucy Ewing, on Dallas. The two had a remarkable on- and off-screen chemistry, for the show's first eight seasons, and they also danced together, off camera. She left the show at the end of the eighth season, her contract having expired; Larry Hagman was very disappointed over her departure. She said of Hagman in 1988, "He called me and said, 'You're certainly a good actress, we never realized.' I think Larry went to bat for me to come back on the show." That same year, she came back to the show, and stayed on for two more seasons, until her departure in 1990, a year before the series finale. After Dallas, Tilton remained on good terms with Hagman, and cared deeply about her TV uncle's failing health. In 1995, Hagman was diagnosed with liver cancer and needed a liver transplant; he later received a transplant and survived the bout with cancer. She did not appear in any of the Dallas TV reunion movies, but in 2004, appeared in Dallas Reunion: The Return to Southfork.

In September 2001, she was the only Dallas cast member to attend Larry Hagman's 70th birthday. Eleven years later, she was reunited with Hagman for the last time to star in the second incarnation of Dallas. When Hagman died on November 23, 2012, due to complications from myelodysplastic syndrome, she was devastated, and attended his funeral. Upon his death, Tilton released a statement: "At seventeen years old, my life took a turn that one could only dream of. I was cast as Lucy Ewing in the iconic show Dallas. Dallas was so much more than a television phenomenon to me. It was my family. I grew up with a mentally ill single mother raising me and no father figure in my life. I lived on my own in an apartment from the age of 15. I remember the day I met the force of nature that is Larry Hagman like it was yesterday. My Uncle Larry became the father figure that I so needed and longed for. He taught me how to be professional, work hard, but have fun at the same time, and how to respect the opportunities I was blessed to have been given. He was very protective because I was so young, but also expected the best from me on the set of Dallas. He was one of the best actors the world has ever known. To me, he will always be my Uncle Larry. I am so so very sad, but cherish the lifetime of memories I have with him."

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	Freaky Friday	Bambi
1978	Sweater Girls	Candy
1978	Big Wednesday	Party Girl
1980	Pale Horse Pale Rider	Miranda	Short film
1990	Law at Randado	Edith Hanasain
1991	Problem Child 2	Debbie Claukinski
1991	Ragin' Cajun	Ali Webster
1991	For Parents Only	Mrs. Farell
1992	Deadly Bet	Isabella
1992	Center of the Web	Kathryn Lockwood
1994	The Silence of the Hams	Jane Wine
1996	Detonator	Gail Davies
2000	Guido Takes a Hike	Bartender	Short film
2001	Totally Blonde	Blonde School Director
2003	Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star	Charlene Tilton
2005	A Distant Thunder	Susan	Short film
2006	Getting It Straight	Cynthia Rosenburg	Short film
2008	Tell Veronica	Veronica Star
2008	Superhero Movie	Jill's Mother
2009	The Fish	Charlene Tilton
2009	Sarah's Choice	Michelle Biden	Direct-to-video
2010	Paranormal Calamity	Jacquiline
2010	#1 Cheerleader Camp	Charlene Tilton	Direct-to-video
2010	Mean Parents Suck	Jean Farell
2011	Doctor Spine	Aunt Sally
2012	Edge of Salvation	Sarah Malone
2012	Hemingway	Mrs. Hemingway
2013	Buttwhistle	Mrs. Podgorney
2013	Lucky Dog	Jeanie
2014	Not Another Celebrity Movie	Chef
2017	Vengeance: A Love Story	Mrs. Irma Fick
2017	Road Less Traveled	Babs
2019	Starting Up Love	Aunt Marjory
2020	A Welcome Home Christmas	Lynn Marquee
2022	A Unicorn for Christmas	Nancy
2023	Heaven Sent	Pam
2023	The Nana Project	Esther

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	Happy Days	Jill Higgins	Episode: "They Shoot Fonzies, Don't They?"
1977	Eight Is Enough	Wendy Springer	Episode: "Women, Ducks and the Domino Theory"
1978–85 1988–90 1991	Dallas	Lucy Ewing Cooper	Series regular, 246 episodes Young Artist Award for Best Juvenile Actress in a TV Series or Special (1979) Young Artist Award Former Child Star Lifetime Achievement Award (2001) TV Land Pop Culture Award (2006) Bambi Award for Best Jubilee (1987) Nominated — Bravo Otto Germany Award for Best Female TV Star (1981) Nominated — Golden Apple Award — Sour Apple (1982)
1979	Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker	Julie	TV movie
1979	The Fall of the House of Usher	Jennifer Cresswell	TV movie
1980	Knots Landing	Lucy Ewing	Episode: "Home is for Healing"
1980	Laverne & Shirley	The Girl at Bar	Episodes: "Murder on the Moose Jaw Express: Part 1 and Part 2"
1980	Fantasy Island	Charlotte 'Charlie' Johnson	Episode: "Skater's Edge/Concerto of Death/The Last Great Race"
1981	Saturday Night Live	Herself – Host / Various	Episode: "Charlene Tilton/Todd Rundgren/Prince"
1983	Hotel	Holly Lane	Episode: "Relative Loss"
1980–87	The Love Boat	Various	4 episodes
1987	Murder, She Wrote	Cindy March	Episode: "The Cemetery Vote"
1993	Married... with Children	Herself	Episode: "Tis Time to Smell the Roses"
1995	Favorite Deadly Sins	Norma Jean	TV movie
1995	Star Witness	Grace Kelly	TV movie
1998	Safety Patrol	Mrs. Zapruder	TV movie
2000	The Theory of Everything	Stephanie	TV movie
2000	Bar Hopping	Actress	TV movie
2004	Dallas Reunion: The Return to Southfork	Herself / Lucy Ewing	TV special
2007	Point of Entry (AKA Panic Button)	Helen	TV movie
2010	RuPaul's Drag U	Herself/Makeover Model	Episode: "A Star is Born Again"
2012–14	Dallas	Lucy Ewing	6 episodes
2013	DeVanity	Francesca DeVanity	Web series, Guest Star in episode 3.6 Indie Series Award for Best Guest Star - Drama
2013	Reading, Writing & Romance	Penny	TV movie
2014	The Michaels	Dora	TV movie
2015	The Middle	Rhonda	Episode: "The Answer"
2017	Second Chance Christmas	Peg	TV movie

External links

• Charlene Tilton at IMDb
• Charlene Tilton at the TCM Movie Database
• Charlene Tilton on Twitter
• Charlene Tilton on Rotten Tomatoes, Flixster Inc
• Charlene Tilton, su MusicBrainz, MetaBrainz Foundation
• Charlene Tilton, su Discogs, Zink Media