Brenda Bakke

Bakke has fared better in TV with episodic guest shots and TV-movies. She had a brief stint as a regular on the Western "Ned Blessing: The Story of My Life and Times" (CBS, 1993) playing a beautiful "sportin' gal" called The Wren. Bakke's next assignment, the supernatural drama "American Gothic" (CBS, 1995), was at least a critical hit. She was well cast as Selena Coombs, perky school marm by day/slinky temptress by night and close confidant of a sinister sheriff. After a highly touted turn as Lana Turner in a pivotal scene in the noirish "L.A. Confidential" (1997), Bakke returned to series work as the mother of a teenager who becomes an undercover cop in the 1999 Fox drama "Ryan Caulfield: Year One."