Where is Susan Dey today? Net Worth, Family, Biography

Where is Susan Dey today? Wiki Bio

Susan Hallock Dey was born in Pekin, Illinois USA, on 10 December 1952, so her zodiac sign is Sagittarius and she holds American nationality. She is an actress and a film producer, who gained recognition after portraying the lead character Laurie Partridge in all 96 episodes of the comedy family musical series “The Partridge Family”, which aired from 1970 to 1974. The series also starred Shirley Jones and David Cassidy, and followed the Partridge family who are all both humorous and pop singers.

Susan has retired from acting, and is currently living a peaceful life with her husband in California.

Early life and education

Susan was raised alongside her three siblings in New York, by their father Robert Smith who worked as an editor of several Long Island newspapers, and their mother Ruth Dey who was a nurse, but who died in 1961. So Susan grew up being very close to her sister Leslie, and the two became interested in modelling at a very early age. After Ruth died, Robert married Gail who enjoyed reading magazines about modelling, and after Susan and Leslie noticed one of the articles about fashion modelling, in 1968 they sent their pictures to one of the best modelling agencies, and were instantly hired.

Susan studied at Columbus Elementary School, but became interested in acting while attending Fox Lane High School, where she was a member of the school’s drama club, and appeared in most of the school plays, including “Summer and Smoke” and “Arsenic and Old Lace”. Upon matriculation she didn’t enroll at college, but rather focused on her career as a model and an actress.

Roles in TV series

Susan was cast to play Laurie in “The Partridge Family” in 1970, without any former acting experience except for school plays, and for her performance, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for the Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film.

In 1973, she appeared in the episode “Doorway to Death” of the horror anthology series “Circle of Fear”, followed by her first voice-over roles for Laurie Partridge in eight episodes of “Goober and the Ghost Chasers”, and two episodes of “Partridge Family 2200 A.D.”. The year 1975 saw Susan guest star as Angel in the eponymous episode of the police procedural series “The Rookies”, play Susan Bradshaw in an episode of another police procedural series – “Hawaii Five-0” – and appear as Janice in two episodes of the action crime drama series “S.W.A.T.”

In 1976, Susan appeared in single episodes of “The Quest” and “The Streets of San Francisco”, and then portrayed Jane Benson in six episodes of the sitcom “Loves Me, Loves Me Not”. Her next important role was of Celia Mallory, appearing in 22 episodes of the drama series “Emerald Point N.A.S.” in 1983, and she was then invited to portray the lead character Grace Van Owen in the critically acclaimed legal drama series “L.A. Law”, being nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for an Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and a Viewers for Quality Television Award for the Best Actress in a Quality Drama Series, while she won a Golden Globe Award as Best Actress – Television Series Drama.

The role made Susan famous worldwide, and a woman once approached her in the streets stating how Susan was the reason why she enrolled at a law school, and the writer Gwyn Cready mentioned Susan in her novel “Tumbling Through Time”, stating how she is a heroine and wishing she could be Susan just for a day.

Susan was shooting for “L.A. Law” from 1986 to 1992 and 110 episodes, and then appeared as Wallis ‘Wally’ Porter in 23 episodes of the sitcom “Love & War” in 1993. Two of her later roles in TV series were in the legal drama “Family Law” in 1999, and the crime drama “Third Watch” in 2004.

Roles in movies

Susan made her debut film appearance in 1972, portraying a Girl in the Crowd in the political comedy drama “The Candidate”, and then appeared in the disaster film “Skyjacked”, the horror “Terror on the Beach”, and the drama “Cage Without a Key”. She portrayed Rowena Harper in the critically acclaimed movie “Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night”, and Caroline in the romantic drama film “First Love” in 1977, before she was invited to star as Sandy in the musical “Grease”, which is considered as one of the best musicals of all time, however, Susan turned the offer down, and it went to Olivia Newton-John, making her famous.

She acted as Cindy Fairmont in the science fiction horror movie “Locker” in 1981, and starred as Linda Harvey in the drama film “Malibu” in 1983. Some of the roles which followed were in “Echo Park” in 1986, “The Trouble with Dick” in 1987, and “Bed of Lies” in 1992. The year 1993 saw her play the lead role as Christina Kinsey in the award-winning film “Lies and Lullabies”, and she then starred in “Beyond Betrayal” in 1994, and “Deadly Love” in 1995. Susan was Mrs. Sellers in the action movie “Blue River”, and Madeleine Armstrong in the drama “Bridge of Time” in 1997, before appearing as Margo in “Avenged” in 1998.

Some of her latest roles in movies were in “L.A. Law: The Movie” in 2002, “Disappearance” in 2002 as well, and “Rain” in 2003.

Love life and boyfriend

While shooting for “The Partridge Family” Susan fell in love with David Cassidy, and they started dating in 1974 when the series were completed, however, the relationship lasted for only a month because David was not in love with Susan. Shortly after the break-up, Susan began dating Leonard ‘Lenny’ Hirshan, who was an actor – the two married in November 1976 and Susan gave birth to their daughter Sarah in 1978, but five years later Susan and Leonard divorced on 19 January 1983. He died from cancer on 31 January 2014.

In 1985, she met Bernard Sofronski who is a retired actor, theatre plays director, and a DJ – they married on 20 February 1988. Bernard is 12 years Susan’s senior, and has two children from his former marriage, both of whom are in good relations with Susan.

Susan and Bernard are currently living together at their home in Los Angeles, California.

Hobbies and other interests

Susan has always been interested in looking good, and was exercising on a daily basis during her 20s and 30s. She was following a strict diet, and always limited how much food she ate, however, things got out of control while she was shooting for “The Partridge Family” as she developed the eating disorder Anorexia and was in a very poor shape – a child once pointed his finger at her and told her she looked disgusting.

Thankfully, Susan got out of it, and started caring less about her weight and the amount of food she eats.

She is a philanthropist who was one of the board members of the Rape Treatment Center at the University of California, Los Angeles’ Medical Center, while she also accepted to serve as one of the narrators in the documentary movie “L. A. Law” in 1986, which dealt with campus rape.

Appearance and net worth

Susan is 67 years old. She has long brown hair and blue eyes, is 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall, and weighs around 134lbs (61kgs). As of April 2020, her net worth is estimated at over $10 million.

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