Charlene Tilton

Actress

Charlene Tilton was born in San Diego, California, she grew up in Hollywood and went to school at Hollywood High School.

She had early roles on television series such "Happy Days" and "Eight Is Enough". She made her first film appearance alongside Jodie Foster in "Freaky Friday" (1976). In 1978, she made a cameo appearance in the John Milius film "Big Wednesday". That same year, she made her big break by landing the role of Lucy Ewing, the sly, vixenish, frequently frustrated heiress 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.

After her breakthrough with "Dallas", Tilton went on 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".

After "Dallas", she appeared in the 1990 western film "Border Shootout" starring Glenn Ford, and the following year had a supporting role in the comedy film "Problem Child 2". She appeared in several 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”. 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 January 2012, she was a contestant on the British ice-skating show "Dancing on Ice" in its seventh season. That same year, she joined the cast of TNT's "Dallas" revival series and reprised her role as Lucy Ewing in several episodes. She later appeared in the ABC comedy series "The Middle" and also appeared in several Lifetime and Hallmark Channel films in later years.