Nancy - Elayne Heilveil - Family (1976) Discussion

[–] mumfordlmh44 18 years ago

No, but Meredith Baxter-Birney was a huge improvement. She had that "Pasadina California" look, blond and hot. Better actress at carrying off the spoiled bitch thing.

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[–] mark_philly 18 years ago

I actually loved Elayne Heilveil as Nancy... she was GREAT in the pilot episode where she makes that "discovery" (I won't go into details just in case someone hasn't watched the DVD yet.)

Meredith Baxter-Birney was terrific as Nancy as well -- but I always had a soft spot for Elayne.

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[–] xanthas (3215) 3 years ago

I was watching TCM the other night and just happened to see a film from the 70s co-starring Elayne Heilveil. I recognized her from the first season of "Family." She wasn't too bad in the movie. She played sort of a trampy ditz, and had a Southern accent.

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[–] Adam60z (3781) 3 years ago

I wish they replaced Willie; he's such a dork!

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[–] sjbradford 18 years ago

Both the producers and the network felt she was the weak link in the cast. And she was - Nancy is pretty much a non-entity during the episodes where Heilveil is playing the role.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] view123 18 years ago

Sorry I don't know the reason why Heilveil left the cast, but did you know Meredith Baxter-Birney was the 3rd actress to play Nancy? She told this to Bob Costas on his late-night talk show. It seems, for whatever reason, Elaine Heilveil just didn't work out, so over the summer the producers auditioned several young actresses to replace her for the beginning of the 2nd season. An actress was chosen (and I don't know who she was) but after filming about 6 episodes, the producers felt she looked "too young" and so they were in a desparate time crunch by this time to find a new Nancy. Meredith Baxter-Birney says she came into the series by doing the previous "Nancy"'s scenes, and she says the editors enlarged some of the frames which contained the "2nd Nancy" and included Meredith's inserts so they didn't have to reshoot the scenes with the new Nancy again. Meredith also said that shooting those first scenes, with the breakneck schedule, not really knowing what her character was all about, was extremely stressful and frustrating. She says James Broderick sensed her aggrivation, and while she was resting between takes, he joked with her and made her feel more at ease; she loved him ever since then.

I've always wondered who the other Nancy was. Perhaps this actress was later cast in another Spelling-Goldberg production? I think Cheryl Ladd once mentioned being cast in a television series, then replaced. Hmmmmmmm.........

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[–] astrojet 18 years ago

That's a great story. It's reported by Aaron Spelling in his bio that Cheryl Ladd was chosen at one point but at the last minute replaced by Meredith. But he didn't say she actually shot 6 episodes worth of scenes. Would love to know the truth behind this one.

Also, any ideas why Nancy was only in about every other episode? Was this because she insisted in it in her contract? Or perhaps the producers wanted to show some distance between the "grown up" daughter and the rest of the family?

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[–] dwachte915 18 years ago

I remember very well that when replacing Heilveil, the role of Nancy was going to one of two actresses. Cheryl Ladd was second to Meredith Baxter Birney and Ladd was extremely disappointed she didn't get the role. I don't know if they filmed any scenes with her, though it would be interesting to see them today if it's true. Ladd didn't have to wait too long for her big TV debut because whe Spelling was replacing Farrah Fawcett, he remembered a very talented and pretty actress named Cheryl Ladd. Side note... you know that Cheryl Ladd was one of the singing voices of Josie and the Pussycats! And of course I remember Meredith Baxter in Bridget Loves Bernie.
Why did they bring Quinn Cummings into the show at all? What was the point?

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] lbjca 18 years ago

I didn't like Elayne Heilveil in the roll at all, I can see why they decided to replace her. She wasn't attractive, and she for sure couldn't act. Great choice who they ended up choosing. Meredith did a great job and looked really attractive too.

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[–] kwalstedt-1 18 years ago

I'm just watching the first two seasons on DVD and I actually hadn't seen the episodes with Heilveil before. I think I missed the first season of Family when it first came out.

Anyway, I think she is okay - pretty good at seeming like Daddy's Little Princess in a weak, soft way. Not bitchy, more passive and helpless. I am greatly looking forward to getting away from these and getting to the episodes with Meredith Baxter.

Heilveil is too sympathetic and makes Mrs. Lawrence seem like a harpy when she shows no sympathy for her in the first episode.

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[–] Psierut 17 years ago

Big Family fan here. Between the time the initial six episodes ran in 1976 and the regular season began in the fall it was announced that an actress named Jane Actman was taking over the part of Nancy. (I don't know her, but she does have an entry on imdb that stops in the late seventies.) Apparently she didn't work out, so Meredith Baxter got the part. I never heard that she reshot the previous actress's scenes though. That's interesting!

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[–] Wardman3 17 years ago

Well here is a picture of Jane Actman from the Paul Lynde show.

http://www.paullynde.info/TVGuide%2019720909.

I remember that the other girl in the picture was the Voice of Lucy in the Peanut's specials and she also was in the infamous episode of "The Brady Bunch" playing Lucy Winters. It is the one where Jan wears a wig to that party and Peter gets girlhandled by Margie Whiffle.

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[–] sjbradford 16 years ago

Jane Actman - thank you for remembering that. I knew it wasn't Cheryl Ladd who was Heilveil's immediate successor. If you look at that picture, I think Actman actually bears some resemblance to Heilveil, especially her smile.

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[–] JussSayin 10 years ago

The pic is no longer there but I found a clip of The Paul Lynde show and can see why they picked Jane Actman - she did look similar to Elaine Heilveil. There was probably more to why they let her go than just simply looking too young.

I agree with a poster that didn't place all the blame on Elayne for being fired. The writers may have not decided on exactly how they wanted the character and probably after the first season they wanted a different type of person to play the role.

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[–] niko7sky-1 17 years ago

I also heard that Season Hubley was up for the role of Nancy. She was eventually cast as "Salina MacGee", and the viewing audience loved her. The producers kicked themselves for not casting Season as Nancy, and brought back "MacGee" for a few other episodes.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] rob-949 17 years ago

I think Ms. Heilveil was a competent actress in her scenes -- especially the breakdown in the car scene. I think the producers didn't have a clear idea of what they wanted for the character of Nancy in the first 6 episodes, and when they did they decided to go in a different direction -- probably in no small part than because Willie and Buddy were so protective of one another they needed a contrast and source of conflict -- hence bitchy Nancy II.

Ms. Baxter looks less like the possible daughter of Sada Thompson and James Broderick than does Ms. Heilveil, and, actually, after the pilot, Ms. Heilveil's appearance improved considerably (as did Ms. Thompson's).

I don't think it's a slight on the actress that she was released from her contract, and the role wsas recast. It's simply the producers looking at the first six episodes and the cast as a whole and deciding what worked, what didn't, and where there was room to increase the drama and complicate the family dynamic to keep things interesting.

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[–] lbjca 17 years ago

I never saw Elayne Heilveil again after being on Family the first few times. Meredith Baxter bacame a big star, this tells a lot right there. This was a very good choice to get rid of Ms. Heilveil, she didn't play the role well at all.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] eljefe320 16 years ago

Except where did Baxter get her genes from? Heilveil looked like the daughter of those two would look whereas Baxter was too gorgeous.

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] ethersmum 16 years ago

Hmmm...I don't know. I agree with the other person on this forum who said Baxter looked something like Broderick and Gary Frank (Willy): same fair hair and pale blue eyes. I also agree that Heilveil, with her big dark eyes and hair, resembled Sada Thompson and Kristy McNichol. Are all the children you know absolute spitting images of their parents? Not in my family. My mother is a dead-ringer for Audrey Hepburn, but her mother looked like Bea Arthur and her father looked like Pope John Paul II!

Besides, I think acting ability should take precedence over appearance, especially on such a well-crafted drama such as "Family".

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[–] subcarrier 15 years ago

I agree, I've seen many instances where a parent's child looks completely unlike them. This was not left unaddressed by the writers though. In the episode "Princess In The Tower", Kate is telling Kim Darby's character while she's giving birth about her children. I don't remember it verbatim, but she says how different from her her oldest daughter Nancy looks...tall and with long blond hair.

I sure could use a refresher on the episode, if Sony would just get off of their butts and get out some more seasons.

What else do you like? Lazy, ugly, horny? I got it all...

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[–] Zslater 16 years ago

I can for see why they replaced Elayne with Meridith. Elayne really was boring to look at and really boring to watch. The show was completely different once Meridith took over as Nancy.

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[–] sonomagirl2120 15 years ago

I loved all the Nancy storylines and thought Merdith the perfect actress for that role...she was my favorite character on the show.

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[–] fentress 15 years ago

I agree with the majority of posters on this thread, i.e. that Meredith Baxter Birney was a better actress and more attractive. Not that Elayne Heilveil was particularly unattractive, but Baxter-Birney was more telegenic. I think replacing Heilveil with Baxter-Birney was a wise casting choice, even if she doesn't look as much as though she could be the Lawrence's daughter.

However, I can't help but notice that photo of Elayne Heilveil on the piano during the show's opening sequence - in the few episodes she was in. In that photo, I think she looks quite striking. I can't get over how good she looks in that photo. Unfortunately she didn't look quite as good any other time. The photographer must have caught her on a good day.

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[–] thedavidavin 10 years ago

Of course there's a chance that none of the original posters on this topic are still alive, but this thread made me go back and watch the first 6 episodes, just to see if the actress playing Nancy was ugly, boring or a bad or miscast actress. I found none of it to be true. Wikipedia (not that I trust everything I read there) refers to the first 6 episodes as a mini-series, so that accounts for a lot of questions regarding the length of the first "season" and the decision to recast Nancy. As an earlier post suggests, if the following season wasn't negotiated, I can see where they would have traded the star power of Baxter to ensure a hit.

Heilveil was perfectly attractive for the time and I think she very much looked like she could be an actual daughter of Sada Thompson, as well as Willie and Buddy's sibling and her acting is spot-on. This character is quite different than the other generations of the family in that so many characters of that age were written off as hippies or the typical bitchy-but-hot "Meredith Baxter California Girl". I think Heilveil gave the role an interesting substance, almost a "trump card" of a character, such as ALL of those we watched Christina Raines play during the same era. She seemed to not be confident of anything, which was very realistic for a character of her age in 1976.

Thanks to this discussion board, I was forced to look up these episodes and watch them. When this show originally aired, I was growing up in a rural area and we only picked up the NBC affiliate, so I only saw a handful of the Season 3 episodes back then. Now I see what the big deal was and plan to watch all of it. Much of it still holds up thematically. I can see where Gary Frank's "method" likely rubbed off on McNichol. And speaking of, no wonder the child grew up to be manic-depressive. Let's look at the themes of the first 6 episodes:

1. Infidelity/Abortion
2. Cancer and Best Friend Moving Away
3. Falling In Love with Someone Who Is Pregnant... By Someone Else
4. Death
5. Death of a Child
6. Psychotic Home Invasion/Runaway Brother (although I don't think a High School Drop-Out could qualify as a runaway during that period).

Did they set out to be the Polar-Brady Bunch? Does anything good every happen to this family? I'm hooked already, so I guess I'm about to find out. Thompson and Broderick turned in some fine TV acting here.

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[–] fentress 10 years ago

Well, if it's comfort to you, I am still alive! Kind of interesting to get a reply to such an old post. To be honest, I haven't watched or thought about that show in a long time. I don't know if more episodes have released now, but when I made the post all that was on DVD was that abbreviated first season with Elaine Heilveil and then the following full season with Birney. So that's all I've really seen. I am old enough to remember it being on the air but didn't watch much back then. I guess a person could find pirate DVD's to see the rest (if not released yet) but I never went to that effort (and wouldn't likely now).

I respect all those thoughts. What I remember liking about the show was that they had a number of crises, but they were basically a functioning family. For the most part the problems were real and not clichéd. A well balanced drama.

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[–] thedavidavin 10 years ago

There is a certain internet (toob) site that seems to have ALL episodes, all five seasons. I'm on the third episode of the 2nd season and it seems, although the themes are still somewhat deep and serious, they lightened it up a few notches. And congratulations on still being alive! :)

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[–] mkboolie 10 years ago

What is the link?????

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[–] seas286 8 years ago

I always wondered what Brianne Leary from Chips would have been like as a recast Nancy. She looks nearly like Elayne, but according to IMDB, she is 10 years younger.

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[–] SkipEastport 9 years ago

This is an old thread, and maybe no one cares, but thanks to social media I've been in touch with some of the participants of Family. As it turns out, Elayne Heilveil wasn't replaced. According to the producer, she didn't want to commit to a regular series when ABC picked the show up after it's initial mini-series run.

I didn't know this, but another actress was actually cast as Nancy after Heilveil but before Meredith Baxter, and she filmed the first episode of the second season. Her name was Jane Actman. I did a Google search, and she looked very similar to Elayne Heilveil. It was ABC president Fred Silverman who decided that he wanted an older actress with a different look. He went over the heads of producers Carol and Nigel McKeand and recast Meredith Baxter as Nancy. Meredith actually talks about this in her autobiography. She had to refilm Actman's scenes for that episode and resented the fact that she had to play Actman's mannersims and inflections to make the scenes with other actors match.

Meredith accepted the part because she was assured that Nancy would be recurring and not appear every week. At the time, Meredith was busy with young kids to raise, not to mention placating her jealous husband David Birney.

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[–] spike71 9 years ago

Interesting info, thanks. I'll have to see if I can find any pictures of Jane Actman but since I watched the entire series, I couldn't imagine anyone but Meredith Baxter Birney in the role.

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[–] startup 9 years ago

Elayne was fired, I know this for a fact! She was terrible.

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