Crystal Bernard (born September 30, 1961) is an American actress and singer, most widely known for her seven-year-long role on the situation comedy Wings.

Early life

Bernard was born in Garland, Texas. She became an amateur entertainer at a young age, singing gospel songs with her older sister, Robyn Bernard (also an actress, who played, "Terry Brock," on General Hospital, 1984-1990^[1]). One recording of the two that has survived from those years is a song called, "The Monkey Song" (an objection to evolution), on, Feudin' Fussin' and Frettin,^[2] a recording of a 1972 Thomas Road Baptist Church service led by Jerry Falwell. Bernard's father is famed televangelist, Dr. Jerry Wayne Bernard, with whom Bernard still travels and sings gospel music.^[3]

Bernard developed her acting and performing abilities at, Alley Theatre, while growing up in, Houston, Texas. She continued her education at Baylor University where she studied acting and international relations.^[4]

Bernard is a Republican and a supporter of George W. Bush.^[5]

Career

Television

She got her start in prime-time television on the long-running sitcom Happy Days, playing "K.C. Cunningham" during the show's second-to-last season. After various guest appearances on television, she joined the cast of the resurrected, syndicated version of the sitcom It's a Living, playing waitress Amy Tompkins. But she is best known for her role as strong-willed airport lunch-counter operator "Helen Chappel Hackett" on the sitcom Wings, a role she played for the show's duration (1990-1997).

Film

Early in her film career, she appeared in Young Doctors in Love. She starred in the Roger Corman-produced, direct-to-video film Slumber Party Massacre 2.

During the 21st century, her work includes a role in the film, Jackpot, and a starring role in Welcome to Paradise.

She has also starred in two Hallmark Channel TV-movies, Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus and Meet the Santas.

She also starred in an unsold, 1989 TV-series pilot, Chameleons, created by Glen A. Larson. She played Shelley,a self-proclaimed crazed heiress who discovers that her eccentric millionaire uncle Jason Carr has been murdered. She sets out on a quest to find the truth behind his murder.

Theatre

Bernard has appeared in stage productions since the end of Wings:

• In 1999, she was in a Los Angeles production of Crimes of the Heart;
• In 2001, she was the last in a series of actresses to play, Annie Oakley, in a 1999 Marquis Theatre revival of Annie Get Your Gun^[6]
• In 2005, she was in the West Coast premiere of Barbra's Wedding, starring opposite actor/playwright Daniel Stern, in a production staged at Falcon Theatre, in Burbank, California.^[7]

Music

In addition to acting, Bernard has a music career as a singer-songwriter. Albums include The Girl Next Door (1996) and Don't Touch Me There (1999). The latter includes a gospel track she recorded with her father and one sung with country artist Billy Dean.

Bernard did a duet with Peter Cetera called, "(I Wanna Take) Forever Tonight," released on Cetera's One Clear Voice album.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

fr:Crystal Bernard ja:??????????? pl:Crystal Bernard sk:Crystal Bernard