Celebrity Nooz: Susan Dey

Susan Dey (Actress) - The Partridge Family

Updated: 5/26/20

Name: Susan Dey

Birth Name: Susan Hallock Dey

Born: December 10, 1952 in Pekin, Illinois, USA

Claim To Fame: Susan Dey is an American actress, known for her television roles as Laurie Partridge on the sitcom The Partridge Family (1970-1974), and as Grace Van Owen on the drama series L.A. Law (1986-1992).

Family Life: Dey was married to Leonard "Lenny" Hirshan from 1976 to 1981. They have one daughter, Sarah, born in 1978. Dey has been married to her second husband, television producer Bernard Sofronski, since 1988.

Info: Born to Ruth Pyle Dey, a nurse, and Robert Smith Dey, a newspaper editor for the Standard-Star in New Rochelle, New York.

Ruth died in 1961, when Susan was eight years old.

Susan attended Columbus Elementary School in Thornwood, New York, later moving to Mount Kisco, New York, where she graduated from Fox Lane High School in 1970.

Was a drama club member of Fox Lane High School in Bedford, New York. She had parts in the school plays "Arsenic and Old Lace" and "Summer and Smoke".

One of four children, Susan's sister Leslie became a model too just like her sister and the sisters at one time worked for the same agency. The girls became interested in modeling through their stepmother, Gail, who, after reading an article on fashion modeling in Seventeen Magazine, submitted their pictures to a top modeling agency in New York. The agency immediately signed them in 1968.

Came to acting by way of a teen modeling career.

She suffered with the eating disorder anorexia during the run of The Partridge Family.

Serves as a board member of the Rape Treatment Center at UCLA Medical Center and co-narrated a documentary on campus rape with her former L.A. Law co-star Corbin Bernsen.

Trivia: Dey's first modeling break was the cover photo for a booklet by Pursettes tampons on first facts of menstruation for young girls called "Getting to Know Yourself".

Dey's first film role was as a passenger in the 1972 airline hijack movie Skyjacked, starring Charlton Heston.

In 1972, Dey was credited as the author of a book titled Susan Dey's Secrets on Boys, Beauty and Popularity.

Turned down the role of Sandy in Grease (1978) on her manager's advice.

A three-time Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, she won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama Series for L.A. Law in 1988.

She hosted a 1992 episode of Saturday Night Live.

In 1992, Dey co-starred in the sitcom Love & War. Although the show ran until 1995, she was replaced in 1993 by Annie Potts because producers reportedly felt she had "no chemistry" with co-star Jay Thomas.

In 1993, she produced and starred in Lies & Lullabies (later released on DVD as Sad Inheritance), where she played a pregnant cocaine addict.

In Gwyn Cready's comedic romance novel "Tumbling Through Time", the heroine talks about Susan and considers Laurie Partridge a personal hero, wishing she could have lived a life in "Laurie Partridge style".

Dey was mentioned in Shirley Jones's memoir as the only cast member who "consistently refused" to take part in Partridge Family reunions.

Where Are They Now: Susan Dey has retired from the acting for the last 16 years. It seems that she's enjoying life outside of the spotlight, but it would be great for fans to see her on the screen again.

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