Laurette Spang-McCook

Laurette Spang-McCook (born May 16, 1951) is an American television actress. She is best known for playing the character Cassiopeia on the original Battlestar Galactica (1978).

Laurette Spang-McCook
Born
Laurette Spang

(1951-05-16) May 16, 1951
Buffalo, New York, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1972–2007
Spouse(s)
(
m. 1980)
Children3

Biography

Early life/family

Spang was born in Buffalo, New York and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan. During her youth, she was an active letter-writer, penning letters to actors. She was also a huge fan of the gothic soap opera, Dark Shadows and of the television Western, Bonanza. She is related to Bollywood producer-actor Stegath Dorr.

At age 16, she accompanied her father on a business trip to New York City, where she waited at the stage door of Dark Shadows. The stage guard allowed her to walk in, leading her to actress Kathryn Leigh Scott. After their meeting, Spang would answer Scott's fan mail through high-school.

Career

The summer of her junior year, Spang auditioned to be an apprentice at Williamstown Summer Theater. A year later, Scott set up an audition for Spang at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She received a scholarship and graduated from there two years later. Following graduation in 1969, Spang returned to Michigan where she attended Adrian College, living dorm life on a small campus, but not far from her family in Ann Arbor.

After a Universal Studios talent agent spotted her in 1972, Spang signed a 7-year contract with the studio. She then had a succession of guest-starring roles in television series including Emergency!, Adam-12 (Episode: Venice Division), The Streets of San Francisco, The Six Million Dollar Man, Happy Days, Chase, The Secrets of Isis, Charlie's Angels and Lou Grant. Spang also appeared in the television movies Short Walk to Daylight, Runaway! and Sarah T. - Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic. She co-starred in a production of Winesburg, Ohio on KCET's Hollywood Television Theatre.[1] [2]

Towards the end of her contract with Universal (by which time, according to People Weekly Magazine, October 2nd, 1978) [3]her money was almost exhausted and she had been evicted from an apartment she had been renting), Spang was cast as Cassiopeia in the Battlestar Galactica pilot movie, "Saga of a Star World". An initial draft of the script had her killed off in the pilot film, in which the reptiloid Ovions consumed her, almost cannibal-style. However, the character survived and the network kept her on in a regular role in the subsequent weekly series, but "Standards and Practices" (network censors) forced a change of profession upon her. (The censors would no longer allow her to be a socialator, so Glen Larson and Donald P. Bellisario had her character become a medtech in the series, beginning with "Lost Planet of the Gods, Parts 1 & 2").[1]

Spang's later acting performances were in The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, The Dukes of Hazzard, Magnum, P.I., Three's Company,[4] and more.. She took a de facto retirement from acting in 1984, though she made a brief appearance in the 2007 horror film Plot 7, which also featured her by-then husband John McCook. In 2002, Spang appeared in the Battlestar Galactica episode of Sciography documentary series on the Sci-Fi Channel in 2002. In 2003, she appeared in another Battlestar Galactica documentary included as an extra feature in the DVD box set of the series released for the series' 25th anniversary.[1]

Personal life

Spang married actor John McCook on February 16, 1980; the couple have three children, including actress Molly McCook.[1]

Filmography
Film and Television
YearTitleRoleNotes
1972The Bold Ones: The New DoctorsReal Estate LadyEpisode: "Is This Operation Necessary?"
1972Short Walk to DaylightSandyTelevision film
1972Emergency!Betsy PowerEpisode: "Dinner Date"
1973Alias Smith and JonesEmma SterlingEpisode: "Only Three to a Bed"
1973Winesburg, OhioHelen WhiteTelevision film
1973Marcus Welby, M.D.Episode: "The Panic Path"
1973ChaseJill BronstonEpisode: "Foul-Up"
1973Runaway!CoedTelevision film
1973Emergency!SallyEpisode: "The Old Engine"
1973Adam-12Carla RogersEpisode: "Venice Division"
1973The Streets of San FranciscoKimEpisode: "Harem"
1973ManeaterPollyTelevision film
1973Owen Marshall: Counselor at LawSherryEpisode: "A Girl Named Tham"
1974Happy DaysArlene HolderEpisode: "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do"
1974The Six Million Dollar ManYeoman Helen MaychickEpisode: "Survival of the Fittest"
1974Airport 1975ArleneFeature film
1974The RangersJulie BeckTelevision film
1975Emergency!Mrs. LongEpisode: "Kidding"
1975Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage AlcoholicNancyTelevision film
1975SunshineCathyEpisode: "Jill"
1975Happy DaysDenise HudsonEpisode: "Kiss Me Sickly"
1976The Love BoatJuanita HavlicekTelevision film
1976The Secrets of IsisAnnEpisode: "The Cheerleader"
1976Gemini ManMaggieEpisode: "Run, Sam, Run"
1976Charlie's AngelsTracy MartelEpisode: "Consenting Adults"
1977McNamara's BandHelga ZimhoffTV pilot episode
1977Happy DaysArleneEpisode: "The Graduation" (Part 1)
1977Happy DaysWendy3-part episodes: "Hollywood"
1978Lou GrantJoanie HumeEpisodes: "Airliner" / "Spies"
1978The Love BoatMelanie TaylorEpisode: "A Very Special Girl"
1978Man from AtlantisAmanda TrevanianEpisode: "The Siren"
1978Colorado C.I.Chris MorrisonTV pilot episode
1978Project U.F.O.Linda CollinsEpisode: "Sighting 4015: The Underwater Incident"
1978–79Battlestar GalacticaCassiopeia21 episodes, 3 of these episodes were also edited and released as a feature film in 1978
1979B. J. and the BearSnow White2-part episodes: "Snow White and the Seven Lady Truckers"
1980Barnaby JonesLucyEpisode: "The Final Victim"
1980TouristRoseAnne WickerTV film
1980Three's CompanyIngaEpisode: "Downhill Chaser"
1981B. J. and the BearSnow WhiteEpisode: "B.J. and the Seven Lady Truckers: Part 2"
1981The Love BoatLindaEpisode: "Split Personality"
1981Aloha ParadiseEpisode: "Blue Honeymoon"
1981Fantasy IslandKaren Saunders-HolmesEpisode: "The Searcher"
1981The Dukes of HazzardMindy LouEpisode: "The Fugitive"
1982The Day the Bubble BurstFrances PierceTelevision film
1984Magnum, P.I.Marge Atherton / Zelda FitzgeraldEpisode: "The Case of the Red-Faced Thespian"
2003GalacticonCassiopeiaVideo short
2007Plot 7Lady in White

References
  1. Laurette Spang-McCook on IMDb
  2. "Laurette Spang - The TV IV". tviv.org. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
  3. https://people.com/archive/cover-story-blast-off-or-rip-off-vol-10-no-14/
  4. Stein, Megan (2019-05-10). "Wait a Minute: 'Last Man Standing' Star Molly McCook's Mom Is Famous, Too?". Country Living. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
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