Dana Barron

Dana Barron was born on April 22, 1966 in New York City into a well-known theatrical family. Her mother, Joyce McCord, is a stage actress, and her father, Robert Weeks Barron, was an actor and director of commercials. Her father later opened the Weist-Barron School of Television, the world’s first school for commercial and soap opera acting. Her sister Allison is also an actress and did TV commercials from a young age. Her grandmother, Marion Weeks, was the first person to sing in talkies. Her grandfather was an opera singer.

Dana attended the Hunter School for eight years, and after graduating, she attended New York University’s Stern School of Business from where she graduated with distinction, majoring in business marketing. In 2005, she received her Associates degree/ certification in Early Childhood Education from Santa Monica College. She also did a restaurant management course at the New York University.

For 19 years, she volunteered as a teacher for United in Harmony, an organization that organizes summer camps for homeless and underprivileged children. In 2000, she became a founding member of Children Uniting Nations, an organization that holds mentoring events for foster children.

Dana Barron began her acting career at a young age. In her youth she also pursued other jobs and opened and managed a restaurant, Chumley’s, in Greenwich Village for seven years. She also served as a part-time teacher at the New York City Zoo and the Natural History Museum.

In 1983, she came to prominence with her role in the film ‘National Lampoon's Vacation’, where she played Audrey Griswold. The film became very popular. Many years later, she reprised the role in the NBC TV movie, ‘National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure. In 1989, her performance in the CBS after-school special ‘No Means No’ earned her a Daytime Emmy Award.

In 1992, she bagged a recurring role as Nikki Witt on ‘Beverly Hills, 90210’. During the series, she designed her character's clothes and was also allowed to modify her lines. Her performance won her the Youth in Film Award for best recurring actress. In the same year, she was featured in the NBC movie ‘Jonathan: The Boy Nobody Wanted’ as Laurie Moore.

She co-produced her first film, ‘Seduced By A Thief’ and in 2002, she became an executive producer for ‘National Lampoon’ and produced several television projects. One of her biggest projects was a co-production between Symphony Pictures and National Lampoon titled, ‘Pucked’, starring Jon Bon Jovi and David Faustino.

She appeared in the 2010 comedy drama film ‘Happythankyoumoreplease, written and directed by Josh Radnor. The film won the 2010 Sundance Audience award. In 2012, she appeared as Brenda Weir in ‘Naughty or Nice’, which was the highest rated cable movie of 2012. Her 2013 TV film project, ‘Snow Bride’ was released on the Hallmark Channel.