Nancy - Elayne Heilveil
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view123 — 19 years ago(September 23, 2006 08:47 PM)
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 -
astrojet — 19 years ago(October 28, 2006 10:46 PM)
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? -
dwachte915 — 19 years ago(February 11, 2007 02:16 AM)
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? -
lbjca — 18 years ago(June 24, 2007 09:40 AM)
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(June 28, 2007 03:08 PM)
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. -
Psierut — 18 years ago(January 07, 2008 10:14 AM)
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 — 18 years ago(January 07, 2008 03:44 PM)
Well here is a picture of Jane Actman from the Paul Lynde show.
http://www.paullynde.info/TVGuide 19720909.
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. -
Sjbradford — 17 years ago(September 04, 2008 08:24 PM)
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 — 11 years ago(January 08, 2015 06:03 AM)
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. -
niko7sky-1 — 18 years ago(January 08, 2008 12:02 PM)
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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rob-949 — 18 years ago(January 09, 2008 10:12 PM)
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. -
lbjca — 17 years ago(June 18, 2008 11:22 AM)
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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ethersmum — 16 years ago(June 19, 2009 10:07 AM)
HmmmI 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".