Dedee Pfeiffer

Born on January 1, 1964, in Midway City, California, Dedee Pfeiffer is the third child of Donna (née Taverna) and Richard Pfeiffer. Originally from South Dakota, her father was a heating and air-conditioning contractor while her mother was a homemaker. She has three siblings: Rick (brother), Michelle and Lori (sisters).

Her ancestors came from all over Europe, from Germany to Great Britain to France to Netherlands. Following in her famous sister’s footsteps, she decided to try for a career in acting. She worked as a cocktail waitress at a mud-wrestling bar while attired in a monkey costume, a truck-driver, a dancer in Disneyland, and a radiator delivery woman as she attended audition after audition to land her breakout role.

Pfeiffer has been married three times. She married her first husband computer consultant Gregory Fein on October 13, 1996. They divorced in 2001. She wed her second husband, Santiago Gomez, on September 22, 2001. They have two children together, including a boy who was born in 2002. After their divorce in August 2006, she married Irish actor Kevin Ryan, who is 20 years her junior, on January 16, 2009. That marriage also ended in divorce, which was finalised in October 2012.

Dedee Pfeiffer debuted in 1985 in CBS’ detective series ‘Simon & Simon’, in which she appeared as Jennifer in the season four episode ‘Slither’. She worked with her sister Michelle and Jeff Goldblum in her film debut ‘Into the Night’, a 1985 comedy-drama. In the next few years, she played a series of small roles in both films and television shows, including ‘Moving Violations’ (1985), ‘Toughlove’ (1985), ‘The Midnight Hour’ (1985), ‘Vamp’ (1986), ‘The Allnighter’ (1987), ‘Brother in Arms’ (1988), and ‘Midnight Caller’ (1989). Pfeiffer was cast as Bonnie McCarthy opposite Lance Henriksen in James Isaac’s ‘The Horror Show’ (1989), in which she appeared nude for the first time in her career.

Her next important role was in the 1990 comedy ‘Tune in Tomorrow’, which was based on Mario Vargas Llosa’s novel ‘Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter’ and also starred Keanu Reeves, Barbara Hershey, and Peter Falk. She shared screen space with Hershey again in ‘Falling Down’ (1993), in which she portrayed Sheila Folsom, a Whammy Burger employee. In 1994, she made a guest appearance on the episode ‘The Opposite’ of NBC’s iconic sitcom ‘Seinfeld’.

Pfeiffer was cast in her first role as a series regular in the CBS’ sitcom ‘Cybill’ (1995-97). She played Rachel Robbins Manning Blanders, the oldest daughter of the titular character of the show, Cybill Sheridan (Cybill Shepherd), who is as neurotic and unstable as her mother. Pfeiffer received critical praise for her performance. One of Chuck Lorre’s earliest gems, the show won numerous awards, including two Golden Globes and three Emmys.

In the NBC’s sitcom ‘For Your Love’ (1998-2002), she portrayed one of the main characters, one half of the “veteran” couple, Sheri and Dean Winston (D. W. Moffett). Her latest screen appearance was in Gaius Charles’ short film ‘Showrunner’ in 2016.

In 1994, Pfeiffer had been dating biker-turned-model-turned-actor Ron Marquette, who was her co-star in the crime-drama ‘Deadly Past’, for a few months. On 27 September, Marquette killed himself with a gun in front of Pfeiffer, who, numbed with shock, grief, and fear, got to the phone and dialled zero for the operator as she had been told as a child to call the operator if something bad happened. The notion of calling 911 did not even enter her mind. The operator hung up on her thinking it was a prank. She eventually called 911 and just sat there motionless until the authorities arrived. This incident sparked off rumors that it was Pfeiffer who had killed her boyfriend and that is why she did not call 911 at the earliest.

Besides acting, Pfeiffer’s creativity has found a second outlet in body art. She has several tattoos, including two cherubs in flight on her left buttock.