Charlene is best known for playing Lucy Ewing on the long running, hugely popular TV series Dallas from 1978-1990. Charlene landed the role of Lucy when she was just 17 years old after appearing in a series of five Japanese clothing commercials with Ringo Starr and in Freaky Friday with Jodie Foster. Originally born in San Diego but raised in Hollywood, Charlene always knew she wanted to be an actress and spent her childhood performing in school recitals and theater workshops. She also attended the famous Hollywood High School where she was a varsity cheerleader and member of the Thespians Club. Landing the coveted role of Lucy Ewing on Dallas was definitely a lesson of persistence paying off for Charlene. Just to even get in the casting office to audition, Charlene would sneak around security at Warner Brothers Studios almost every day. Eventually, the casting director finally relented and gave her a chance to audition! Once executive producer Leonard Katzman saw her audition, he knew he had found his Lucy.
Charlene spent eleven years filming Dallas and was quite a popular character on the series. Lucy’s wedding to Dallas husband, Mitch Cooper, was the second highest rated episode ever, right behind the famous “Who shot J.R.?” At the time of the episode’s airing, Charlene was probably one of the most well known faces in the world appearing on more than 600 magazine covers worldwide! Aside from Dallas, Charlene starred in several TV movies and guest starred in many other popular television series such as Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Murder, She Wrote, and Knots Landing.
Charlene also has a passion for the theater and stays active in LA theater whenever she can. She recently earned rave reviews playing a quadriplegic in Whose Life Is It Anyway? at the Attic Theater and is a winner of the L.A. Theater Critics award for “Best Supporting Actress” in Dish Babies, where she played eight different characters. She also co-produced and starred in the hit comedy Tell Veronica at the Hudson Theater. Other theater credits include a San Francisco production of The Foreigner with Imogene Coca and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in London’s West End. In November, 2004 she also co-produced The Dallas Reunion Special for CBS along with Henry Winkler and Michael Levitt. She is currently developing and producing the Tammy Faye-Baker story in which she will also star as the controversial televangelist.
Charlene has chosen to perform the pieces “Precise Girls Don’t” and “Joy” from My Letter to Fear. “Precise Girls Don’t” recounts the envy a woman can feel towards other women who seem to manage chicness and coolness effortlessly. “Joy” is a piece which ponders if it’s possible for adults to experience pure joy without second guessing or allowing negatives to seep in. We are beyond excited to have a televison legend like Charlene joining us for our staged reading on June 24th!
Check back in a few days for the next actress in our Get to Know blog series!
