starring
SUSAN HOWARD
Born as JERI LYNN MOONEY in MARSHALL, Texas, on June 28, 1946, her first contact with the artistic world happened when being barely a child, she was hired to shoot publicity commercials:
“My parents encouraged me in my dream of becoming an actress - she explains - I grew up with my father telling me that I was talented and beautiful and wonderful. I respected and loved my father, so I believed him - until I grew up and looked in a mirror and saw that my daddy had sort of colored the truth. But by then it was too late. I was hooked.”
She studied Philosophy and Drama at the TEXAS University. After playing at the college´s theatre group, she passed to the professional field. SUSAN moved from TEXAS to HOLLYWOOD, where gueststarred in such popular shows as BONANZA, MARCUS WELBY M.D., MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, STAR TREK or I DREAM OF JEANNIE, with LARRY HAGMAN. However her beginnings were not too lucky and she had to take very different jobs in the Studios, from hairdresser to cleaning-woman.
At last she co-starred with BARRY NEWMAN on the show PETROCELLI, from 1974 on, and the role of MAGGIE earned her several nominations for the EMMY and the GOLDEN GLOBE as best supporting actress in a Drama series. “I once had a fateful meeting with one of the DALLAS´s bosses: LEONARD KATZMAN – she says - . He told he had seen me my work and could give me a hand. He did, and it was a contract for DALLAS, enormously satisfying to me. My part of DONNA KREBBS gave me the big chance and made me dream about a very promising future”.
This episodic role was extended after awhile and, on Season 4, SUSAN became part of the main cast: “I was born and raised in Texas. I knew what it felt like when JOHN KENNEDY was shot in Dallas. We were president murderers. And all of a sudden, this show comes on the air. And, finally, DALLAS was redeemed.” An active member of the International Church Of The Foursquare Gospel, her deep religious beliefs kept her character pure and faithful, since she was not interested in playing a woman involved in humiliating situations. Therefore the actress made sure that DONNA never should have an affair with another man.
Currently SUSAN lives outside AUSTIN with husband CALVIN CHRANE, an important business man from SAN ANTONIO, and has a daughter, LYNN, born from a previous marriage, who gave her 2 grandsons. It was her husband who encouraged her to take the role of DONNA in one episode of DALLAS belonging to Season 1. SUSAN always had to fight for success: after her debut as a screenwriter on DALLAS, she went on writing for TV, though she focused herself on political activity related to environment and defense of the woman´s rights. Today she is a member of the board of the National Riffle Association, on behalf of the free use of guns. “Thanks to my open-minded nature, I won a couple of beauty contests, got into the ad business and…here I am!”
SUSAN ANSWERED TO PAM´S TWIN SISTER...
...During the Chat Interview of the official web-site ULTIMATE DALLAS:
PTS: Who was your inspiration for the role? btw I'm a man.
SUSAN: Huh? oh ok (laughs). You know when I was growing up my there was two, Doris Day and Ingrid Bergman but one had the incredibly gifted personality of being able to laugh and smile and make you as an audience feel like something good was going on. Ingrid Bergman on the other hand was able to bring out the pathos and the true emotional criteria of what characters and people are. So if I had any it was me trying to make a combination of those two, I'm not sure I did so good (laughs).
IN 2007, SUSAN ANSWERED TO TONI...
...During the Chat Interview of the official web-site ULTIMATE DALLAS:
TONI: I was lucky enough to talk to Steve Kanaly last Saturday in la Mirande Festival and told him you were on the star chat today, so this might be a secret reunion of the Krebbs’.... Do you think that Donna might have had a little attraction to Bobby at college, since they were there together?
SUSAN: LOL. No they were buds, they were a couple who people would say were a couple, but they were friends. She adored him and wished the best for him.
Ray and Donna might be abducted by aliens and brought back to Star Trek...(all Susan´s quotes...Isn´t she lovely?)
CAREER:
Movies:
-Come the Morning (1993) Documentary
-Sidewinder 1 (1977)
-Moonshine County Express (1977)
... aka Shine
Television:
-After Dallas (2002) Documentary
-Doing Dallas (2000) Documentary
-Dallas... The E! True Hollywood Story (2000) Documentary
-The Love Boat (1980) episode "Tell Her She's Great/Matchmaker, Matchmaker Times Two/The Baby Alarm" (# 4.8)
-DALLAS (1979-87) Series
-The Power Within (1979)
-Vega$ (1979) episode: "Classic Connection" (# 2.10)
-The Busters (1978)
-Superdome (1978)
-Killer on Board (1977)
-The Fantastic Journey (1977) episode "Vortex" (# 1.1)
-Petrocelli (1974-76) Series
-Indict and Convict (1974)
-Savage (1973)
... aka The Savage File
... aka Watch Dog
-Columbo (1972) episode "The Most Crucial Game"
-Quarantined (1970)
... aka House on the Hill
-The Silent Gun (1969)
-The Oregon Trail (1977) episode "The Gold Dust Queen" (# 1.8)
-The Rockford Files (1976) episode "Feeding Frenzy" (# 3.4)
-City of Angels (1976) episode "The House on Orange Grove Avenue" (# 1.6)
-Marcus Welby, M.D. (1972, 73) episodes "A Necessary End" (#4.16) and "The Tall Tree" (# 5.9)
-Barnaby Jones (1973, 77) episodes "Death Leap" (# 2.2) and "Yesterday's Terror" (# 6.4)
-The Bold Ones: The New Doctors (1973) episode "A Terminal Career" (# 4.13)
-Medical Center (1972) episode "Deadlock" (# 3.21)
-Mission: Impossible (1972) episode "Committed" (# 6.18)
-Love, American Style" (1971, 72) episodes : "Love and the Baker's Half Dozen" (# 2.20a), "Love and the Sweet Sixteen" (# 3.8b) and "Love and the Topless Policy" (# 3.16e)
-The Mod Squad (1971) episode "Cricket"
-The F.B.I. (1971) episode "Center of Peril" (# 6.17)
-The Immortal (1970) episode "The Legacy" (# 1.4)
-The New People (1970) episode "The Siege of Fern's Castle" (# 1.15)
-Mannix (1969, 71) episodes "Who Killed Me?" (# 3.11) and "Round Trip to Nowhere" (# 4.14)
-Land of the Giants (1969) episode "Collector's Item" (# 2.7)
-Bonanza (1969) episode "The Medal" (#11.7)
-The Virginian (1969) episode "Halfway Back From Hell" (# 8.3)
-I Dream of Jeannie (1968, 69) episodes "Genie, Genie, Who's Got the Genie?" (# 3.16) and "The Biggest Star in Hollywood" (#4.19)
-The Outcasts (1969) episode "The Candidates" (#1.14)
-Here Come the Brides (1969) episode "Wives for Wakendo" (# 1.15)
-Star Trek (1968) episode "Day of the Dove" (# 3.7)
-The Second Hundred Years (1968) episode "Dude Hand Luke" (# 1.23)
-The Iron Horse (1967) episode "The Return of Hode Avery" (# 2.8)
-The Flying Nun (1967) episode "Old Cars for New" (# 1.3)
-The Monkees (1967) episode "Monkees Manhattan Style" (# 1.30)
-The Iron Horse (1967) episode "Appointment with an Epitaph" (# 1.23)
STEVE KANALY