The Matlock Women

[biffbronson]

Kari Lizer as Cassie:







Oh yeah, baby. If there were only a few things I could change about Matlock history, one would be for her to have continued.

And have a look at the beautiful face of Linda Purl as Charlene:



These attorney-type women can look over my "briefs" any day of the week!

As we've passed the quarter-century mark since Matlock debuted, it just doesn't seem that long ago that I began being wowed by the show's women in first-run primetime.

[biffbronson]

Have a look at this "big hair" photo -- I think this is about as long as it ever got on the series for Nancy Stafford ("Michelle Thomas"), SEXY!:



As this 2011 photo reveals, Nancy hasn't been adverse to wearing relatively long hair:



I just saw Kari Lizer on Who's the Boss (1987 ep) and she was smokin' hot. Nice look for her hair, braided.

[king of comedy]

Wow!! I've hardley watched the but after seeing these pictures, I want to get the dvds.

[isiahthomas]

I don't know if ya'll remember this but Nancy Stafford played a prostitute on Matlock on the first season before she came on the show in season 2. Matlock had paid her for a date at her hotel room because he was trying to get some evidence from her so he could prove that she was the killer and it would prevent his football player client from going to prison for murdering a white woman that was part owner of the football team he played for. Nancy was sitting on Matlock's lap in her hotel room while they talked and she was touching his hair LOL. She told him she was gonna go to the bathroom and change clothes. While she was in the bathroom, Matlock was going through her purse looking for some evidence and he found what he was looking for. He also left her some money. When she came outta the bathroom, he was gone. She had only a bra and panties on and she was looking good. She saw he left some money on the bed and she counted it LOL. Nancy was hot and if i had been Matlock, i would've stayed there and had sex with her LOL.



I wanna ask ya'll who was the cute white woman that played Matlock's daughter on the pilot episode? She only lasted one episode because Linda Purl took her place as his daughter. I wonder why she only played on one episode because i liked her. Does anybody know what her name is? I would have to choose Linda Purl as the best woman on Matlock. She did a good job as his daughter and she was a good lawyer.

[mets82]

I have a major crush on Leanne. She was goregous.

[biffbronson]

Here's Brynn Thayer, who played Ben's daughter Leanne McIntyre:



Showing a very nice rack in this next photo:


It was very common for the Matlock women to be seen in a blue jacket:



Finally, a later look for Brynn:

[biffbronson]

From the late episodes, Carol Huston:

[king of comedy]

She is hot.

[mets82]

Honestly, I'd take Leanne over Carol.

[biffbronson]

From Season 1:



Linda Purl with an attractive, professional look post-Matlock (from Murder, She Wrote). This lady means business. Love the earrings:



This next photo has been dated 1988, so also after her Matlock work. I've never seen her with such a curly hairstyle, pretty hot...!

[biffbronson]

Kari Lizer, that foxy young woman...!

[TMC]

Originally Posted by biffbronson

Kari Lizer as Cassie:







Oh yeah, baby. If there were only a few things I could change about Matlock history, one would be for her to have continued.

And have a look at the beautiful face of Linda Purl as Charlene:



These attorney-type women can look over my "briefs" any day of the week!

As we've passed the quarter-century mark since Matlock debuted, it just doesn't seem that long ago that I began being wowed by the show's women in first-run primetime.

Andy Griffith pushed for Kari Lizer to join Matlock

When Kari Lizer joined Matlock, she couldn’t believe her luck getting cast to play a law student named Cassie Phillips.

After eight long years of hard times scraping by in New York and L.A., sometimes holding down three waitress jobs at once, it was the first time she was getting paid every week for her acting.

"I really can’t yet fathom being in a series with a weekly income," Lizer told The Herald in 1987. "The job means everything to me and not just because of the money. The whole quality of my life has changed."

Lizer’s acting career started when she was in high school.

At the age of 15, she joined an acting workshop with a friend, and by the time the workshop had ended, the workshop teacher had become agent to both her and her friend.

Lizer got cast right away in commercials, mostly selling stuff like soda pop or cheesing for brands like KFC. She told the Chino Champion in 1978 that doing commercials taught her to respect everyone’s time onset.

"Filming commercials is fun and exciting, but it’s scary too," Lizer said. "There’s all this money and time being spent and everyone’s depending on you. But so far, it’s been very nice."

Lizer had hoped that her acting career would continue picking up, but unfortunately, she faced hard times instead.

A quirky young woman, when she couldn’t afford the fashionable clothes she wanted, she invented her own personal style.

"When I was starving, I bought a lot of secondhand men’s silk pajamas and boxer shorts," Lizer said. "I sewed up the flies and wore them in public because they were fun and unusual. I couldn’t afford to be fashionable, so I decided to go for laughs. But my parents don’t see the humor."

Before Matlock, Lizer featured in small roles in movies and TV shows like Who’s the Boss? and Growing Pains.

Then, her agent got her cast to guest star in an episode of Matlock called "The Angel," where Griffith’s character defends her character — a Madonna-like rock star — and she was so impressive that Griffith took notice.

That’s why when Linda Purl backed out of Matlock after the first season, Griffith personally recommended the series cast Lizer as her replacement.

For Lizer, catching Andy Griffith’s eye completely changed her life, but she said she was so determined to continue acting that even if she didn’t get offered the role of Cassie Phillips, "I would have kept trying."

She was happy for the opportunity when the Matlock role arose.

"This is a wonderful role for me," she said.

Lizer appeared on Matlock throughout the second season, with her final appearance in the episode "The Genius."

After Matlock, she joined The Van Dyke Show, playing Barry Van Dyke’s wife. She continued acting through 2011, more recently contributing to TV as a producer.

Although it took her time to find her footing as an actor, she said she was grateful she experienced so many growing pains when she was young because she felt it helped her grow into the person she became.

"In a way I’m happy I didn’t land in a television series when I was 15," Lizer said.

[biffbronson]

Thank you for posting those fascinating comments from Kari Lizer. I found it a little surprising that Andy recommended her to take the lead role vacated by Linda Purl after Season 1, so I wanted to compare the years of birth for that important casting:

1949 - Brynn Thayer
1954 - Nancy Stafford
1955 - Lori Lethin (pilot only)
1955 - Linda Purl
1959 - Carol Huston
1961 - Kari Lizer

So while the youngest, Ms. Lizer was certainly old enough to take on the big role in '87 and Andy had an interesting recommendation there. We may never know why Nancy Stafford got that while Kari was given a smaller role.

I have to say that time and again, the ladies Andy had found attractive are ones I've favored as well. I'm on Linda Purl's message list and also in the past exchanged a couple of emails with Nancy Stafford.