A. J. Langer

Langer married to attorney Charles Courtenay, styled ‘Lord Courtenay’, in Los Angeles in 2004. He is the son of the Earl of Devon. The couple has two children together: The Hon. Joscelyn Skye and The Hon. Jack Haydon Langer Courtenay.

Langer was born in Ohio to Deana and Gary Langer. Her father used to work in sales for Women formal wear for a Californian Wholesale fashion distributor and mother was an audiologist, who owned a hearing aid distribution company.

When she was five, Langer moved to Los Angeles with her father, mother and brother Kirk. She was a tomboy and acquired her masculine nickname ‘A.J.’ as she was the only girl in baseball little-league.

She was in the ninth grade and a student-body president, when her algebra teacher recommended her an acting career. Langer eventually met with her acting coach, manager and mentor, Ernie Lively, who helped her start an acting career.

In 1991, Langer got her first big opportunity to appear on television with ‘Drexell’s Class’, which was aired by Fox. In the show, she played one of the daughters, ‘Melissa Drexell’, of the main protagonist of the sitcom.

During the same time, she successfully bagged a recurring role in ABC’s drama, ‘The Wonder Years’. Although the show had been running for many years, Langer got a minor role to play from time to time, during the 90s.

In 1992, another minor but subsequent role that became Langer’s route to recognition was her recurring role in ‘In the Heat of the Night’. It was first broadcasted on NBC and then towards the later seasons CBS took over.

But it was not until her prominent role in the teen drama on ABC, ‘My So-Called Life’ in 1994 that Langer achieved her due fame. She played the character of ‘Rayanne Graff’, a wild and rebellious teenager.

Langer started getting small cameo offers in movies after the success of her first big television show. Some of these movies are, ‘Between Mother and Daughter (1995)’, ‘Escape from L.A. (1996)’, ‘Meet the Deedles (1998)’, etc.

Langer’s most memorable role is considered to be ‘Rayanne Graff’ in the teen drama, ‘My So-Called Life’ in 1994. Her bold and rebellious character in the series that portrayed issues like: child abuse, homophobia, etc. made her a TV favorite.