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Leslie Easterbrook
Easterbrook in 2006
Occupation(s)	Actress, producer
Years active	1978–present
Spouses	Victor Holchak ​ ​(m. 1979; div. 1988)​ Dan Wilcox ​(died 2024)​

Leslie Easterbrook is an American actress and producer. She played Sgt./Lt./Capt. Debbie Callahan in the Police Academy films and Rhonda Lee on the television series Laverne & Shirley.

Early life

Easterbrook was adopted when she was nine months old; her adoptive parents, Carl and Helen Easterbrook, raised her in Arcadia, Nebraska. She attended and graduated from Kearney High School and Stephens College. Her father was a music professor and her mother was an English teacher at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

Career

Easterbrook appeared in about a dozen feature films and over 300 television episodes.

One of her earlier successes was in 1980 as Rhonda Lee beginning with season six of Laverne & Shirley. The role of Rhonda was part of the show's change of locale from Milwaukee to Burbank, California. While playing the role of Rhonda, she appeared as a panelist on Match Game taped on 27 September 1981.

Easterbrook performed as Debbie Callahan in the Police Academy film series. She told author Paul Stenning,

The funny thing is, that's not me at all. I'd never played tough. I'd played all kinds of things, but I'd never played someone who's intimidating or someone that was aggressive sexually. I was of a size that I never played the girl who got the guy. I wondered how I could do it. But I did. I went for the audition and I scared the producer and the director and then they backed up in their chairs and I went 'Oh no, now I really blew it. I scared them.' So I left the audition upset. I didn't get to read the script until I got the part. I thought it was outrageous and so funny.

Easterbrook appeared in Private Resort, Murder, She Wrote, Diagnosis: Murder, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Baywatch, Matlock, Hunter, and The Dukes of Hazzard. In 2005, she replaced Karen Black as Mother Firefly in Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects, the sequel to the 2003 horror film, House of 1000 Corpses. In 2007, she played security guard Patty Frost in Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween. In 2008, she played as Betty in the thriller/horror film House. In 2010, she starred in The Afflicted. She also appeared on Ryan's Hope as Devlin Kowalski. Her voice work has been featured in several projects, including Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series.

She sang the National Anthem at Super Bowl XVII which landed her starring roles in musicals on Broadway and throughout the country; she recorded a song for the soundtrack of Police Academy: Mission to Moscow.

Easterbrook made a video, Real Beginner's Guide to the Shotgun Sports, the first in a series designed to encourage and prepare nonshooters for their first shooting experience. Easterbrook serves on the board of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, and supports a number of children's charities. Easterbrook is a National Rifle Association member and has served on the board of directors of the California Rifle and Pistol Association.

Personal life

Easterbrook was married to screenwriter Dan Wilcox until his death in 2024. She is good friends with former Police Academy cast member Scott Thomson and was close friends with Marion Ramsey. Easterbrook describes the cast of the original film as a "big family."

Filmography

Film

Television

References

1. Stenning, Paul (24 November 2013). Success - By Those Who've Made It. Pg. 147. In Flight Books. ISBN 978-1628475869.
2. Stenning, Paul (24 November 2013). Success - By Those Who've Made It. Pg. 148. In Flight Books. ISBN 978-1628475869.
3. Machray, Robert (February 24, 2010). "Theatre Review (LA): Broads by Fahn and Symon at the El Portal Theatre". blogcritics. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
4. Weldon, Michael (1996). The psychotronic video guide. Macmillan. pp. 434–435. ISBN 0-312-13149-6.
5. Stenning, Paul (24 November 2013). Success - By Those Who've Made It. Pg. 154. In Flight Books. ISBN 978-1628475869.
6. Hofstede, David (2005). The Dukes of Hazzard: The Unofficial Companion. Macmillan. p. 279. ISBN 0-312-35374-X.
7. Monush, Barry; Willis, John (2009). Screen World: The Films of 2008. Vol. 60. University of Arkansas Press. p. 225. ISBN 978-1-4234-7370-1.
8. Weiss, Don; Day, Chuck (2003). The Making of the Super Bowl. McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 368. ISBN 0-07-142949-2.
9. Grigware, Don (February 22, 2010). "BWW Reviews: Talented Broads Sing BROADS! THE MUSICAL". Broadway World. Wisdom Digital Media. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
10. Knight, Ken (2008). The Midnight Show: Late Night Cable-TV "Guy-Flicks" of the 80's. AuthorHouse. p. 66. ISBN 978-1-4343-4148-8.
11. Weller, Sandy (April 1, 2005). "CRPA's 130th Anniversary & Annual Banquet". California Rifle & Pistol Association. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
12. Rice, Vicki (March 18, 2004). "At KHS, Easterbrook, Johnston offer scoop on understanding Hollywood, starting to act". Kearney Hub. p. 1.
13. Barnes, Mike. "Dan Wilcox, Writer and Producer on 'M*A*S*H,' Dies at 82". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
14. Stenning, Paul (24 November 2013). Success - By Those Who've Made It. Pg. 152. In Flight Books. ISBN 978-1628475869.
15. Pfeiffer, Jeff (July 20, 2015). "Interview: Steve Guttenberg talks about Syfy's Lavalantula". Channel Guide Magazine. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
16. Schager, Nick (August 24, 2016). "Film Review: 'Greater'". Variety. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
17. "Watch Ridiculous Trailer For Lavalantula Sequel 2 Lava 2 Lantula!". iHorror. June 15, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
18. Squires, John (November 3, 2020). "James Duval, C. Thomas Howell and Ray Wise Star in Monster Movie Beast Mode [Trailer]". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
19. Hipes, Patrick (May 7, 2021). "Inside Out, Nantucket Film Festival Lineups Set; 'The Wedding Pact 2' A Go; Freestyle Digital Media Hire; 'Songs For A Sloth' Deal – Film Briefs". Deadline. Retrieved July 29, 2024.
20. "Leslie Easterbrook (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved July 29, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.

External links

• Leslie Easterbrook at IMDb
• Leslie Easterbrook at the Internet Broadway Database
• Leslie Easterbrook at AllMovie

• 20th-century American actresses
• 21st-century American actresses
• Actresses from Nebraska
• American adoptees
• American film actresses
• American soap opera actresses
• American television actresses
• American voice actresses
• Living people
• People from Valley County, Nebraska