Jill Eikenberry

TV and films beckoned in the late 70s and Eikenberry debuted on the big screen as part of the ensemble of Joan Micklin Silver's look at alternative journalism, "Between the Lines" (1977). She has only a handful of other features to her credit, like her one scene in "An Unmarried Woman" (1978), as a friend who meets Jill Clayburgh at a Chinese restaurant and the more substantial role of the snooty fiancee of Dudley Moore's "Arthur" (1981). In "The Manhattan Project" (1986), Eikenberry was the mother of teenager (Christopher Collett) who manufactures a nuclear reactor. The small screen has offered more diversity and challenges, mostly in meaty dramas. A change of pace found Eikenberry joined Judith Light and Sandy Duncan in "My Boyfriend's Back" (NBC, 1989), a musical comedy-drama about the reunion of teen girl group, with Eikenberry as the lead singer and the one least interested in performing again. She co-produced and starred in "Living a Lie" (NBC, 1991), playing a woman who comes to realize her husband isn't what she thought he was. She also frequently teamed with her husband, generally portraying spouses, in such efforts as "A Family Again" (ABC, 1988) and "Gone Away in a Heartbeat" (CBS, 1996). Eikenberry served as a frequent host of TV specials, including "Destined to Live" (1988), a documentary about breast cancer which she co-produced.