Meredith Baxter

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title: "Meredith Baxter" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1947-births", "20th-century-american-actresses", "21st-century-american-actresses", "21st-century-american-lgbtq-people", "21st-century-american-memoirists", "21st-century-american-women-writers", "actresses-from-los-angeles-county,-california", "american-film-actresses", "american-lesbian-actresses", "american-lesbian-writers", "american-television-actresses", "american-women-memoirists", "american-women-television-producers", "american-voice-actresses", "daytime-emmy-award-winners", "hollywood-high-school-alumni", "interlochen-center-for-the-arts-alumni", "lesbian-memoirists", "lgbtq-people-from-california", "lgbtq-television-producers", "living-people", "people-from-south-pasadena,-california", "television-producers-from-california", "writers-from-los-angeles-county,-california"] description: "American actress and producer (born 1947)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meredith_Baxter" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American actress and producer (born 1947) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Meredith Baxter
image	Meredith Baxter 2014 HRC Gala (cropped).jpg
caption	Baxter at the Human Rights Campaign Gala in 2014
birth_name	Meredith Ann Baxter
birth_date
birth_place	South Pasadena, California, U.S.
education	Interlochen Center for the Arts
yearsactive	1971–present
othername	Meredith Baxter Birney
occupation
spouse	{{plainlist
* {{marriage	Robert Lewis Bush
* {{marriage	David Birney
* {{marriage	Michael Blodgett
mother	Whitney Blake
father	Tom Baxter
children	5
::

| name = Meredith Baxter | image = Meredith Baxter 2014 HRC Gala (cropped).jpg | caption = Baxter at the Human Rights Campaign Gala in 2014 | birth_name = Meredith Ann Baxter | birth_date = | birth_place = South Pasadena, California, U.S. | education = Interlochen Center for the Arts | yearsactive = 1971–present | othername = Meredith Baxter Birney | occupation = | spouse = {{plainlist|

| mother = Whitney Blake | father = Tom Baxter | children = 5

Meredith Ann Baxter (born June 21, 1947) is an American actress and producer. She is known for her roles on the CBS sitcom Bridget Loves Bernie (1972–1973), ABC drama series Family (1976–1980) and the NBC sitcom Family Ties (1982–1989). A five-time Emmy Award nominee, one of her nominations was for playing the title role in the 1992 TV film A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story.

Early life

Baxter was born on June 21, 1947, in South Pasadena, California, the daughter of actress, director and producer Whitney Blake and Tom Baxter, a radio announcer. After her parents were divorced in 1953, Baxter and her two elder brothers, Richard (born 1944) and Brian (born 1946), were raised by their mother in Pasadena. Her second stepfather was situation comedy writer Allan Manings.

Baxter was educated at James Monroe High School before transferring to Hollywood High School. During her senior year, she attended Interlochen Center for the Arts as a voice major, but returned to Hollywood High, where she graduated in 1965.

Career

Baxter got her first appearance in television in 1967 on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in, followed by The Interns, The Young Lawyers, The Doris Day Show, and Insight and in 1971 on an episode of The Partridge Family in its second season. She later appeared in 1972 as one of the stars of Bridget Loves Bernie, a CBS television network situation comedy. The series was canceled after one season. Her co-star, David Birney, became her second husband in 1974. Until they were divorced in 1989, she was credited as "Meredith Baxter Birney", under which name she became widely known in 1976 on Family. She played the role of Nancy Lawrence Maitland and received two Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (1977 and 1978). In 1976, she played the wife of White House staffer Hugh W. Sloan Jr. in All the President's Men.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Family_Meredith_Baxter-Birney_1977.jpg" caption="Baxter in 1977"] ::

After Family ended, she starred with Annette O'Toole and Shelley Hack in Vanities (1981), a television production of the comedy-drama stage play about the lives, loves and friendship of three Texas cheerleaders starting from high school to post-college graduation; it aired as a part of Standing Room Only, a series on the premium television channel HBO.

In 1982, Baxter landed the role of Elyse Keaton, the former flower child matriarch of the Keaton family on the NBC sitcom Family Ties. In 1986, during her time on Family Ties, Baxter earned critical acclaim for her dramatic performance as Kate Stark in the NBC television film Kate's Secret, about a seemingly "perfect" suburban housewife and mother who is secretly suffering from bulimia nervosa. Following Family Ties, Baxter produced and starred in television films. She portrayed a psychopathic kidnapper in The Kissing Place (1990) and was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special for her work in A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story (1992), based on the true story of Betty Broderick, a divorcée who was convicted of murder in the shooting of her ex-husband and his young wife. For her work on the television film My Breast (1994), she received a special award for public awareness from the National Breast Cancer Coalition. In 1997, Baxter once again played the mother of a character played by Michael J. Fox (who portrayed her son, Alex P. Keaton, on Family Ties), this time in two episodes of Spin City.

In 2005, she began appearing in television commercials for Garden State Life Insurance Company. In 2006, she temporarily co-hosted—with Matt Lauer—Today, the NBC morning news and talk show. In 2007, she made a guest appearance on What About Brian, an ABC drama series. That same year, she also made several appearances as the dying mother of Detective Lilly Rush in Cold Case, a CBS police procedural series. In recent years, Baxter created a skin care line called Meredith Baxter Simple Works, which raises funds for Baxter's breast cancer research foundation.

Baxter was the guest speaker at the 2008 Southern Commencement for National University in La Jolla, California, and was awarded an honorary doctoral degree from the university.

On March 1, 2011, Baxter's memoir, titled Untied, was published. In the book, she details her early life, her unhappy and in some cases abusive marriages, her struggles with and recovery from alcoholism, and her realization that she is a lesbian. The book became a New York Times bestseller.

She is also a spokesperson for the senior mobile service provider Consumer Cellular. She voiced the character "Elise Sr." in Dan Vs.. In April 2013, it was announced that Baxter would be in the season 4 finale episode of Glee, along with Patty Duke, as a mentor to Darren Criss's character Blaine Anderson and Chris Colfer's character, Kurt Hummel. She also made a guest appearance on the ABC Family/Freeform series Switched at Birth as the widowed mother of Kathryn Kennish (portrayed by Lea Thompson).

On August 4, 2014, producers announced that Baxter would be joining The Young and the Restless as Maureen, Nikki Newman's new drinking buddy, a "charming, intelligent, middle-class woman who has always aspired to a more privileged life than she has had". Baxter started appearing on the program on September 8. She also played the mother to "Stich" Raybourne and Kelly Andrews.

Personal life

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Meredith_Baxter_David_Birney_Bridget_Loves_Bernie_1972.JPG" caption="Birney]] in ''[[Bridget Loves Bernie]]'' (1972)"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Meredith_Baxter_at_the_AIDS_Project_Los_Angeles_(APLA)_benefit_cropped_and_altered.jpg" caption="Baxter in September 1990"] ::

Baxter has been married four times and has five children.

• Robert Lewis Bush (1966–1971, divorce); two children, born 1967 and 1969
• David Birney (1974–1989, divorce); three children, one born 1974, and twins, born 1984
• Michael Blodgett (1995–2000, divorce)
• Nancy Locke (2013–present)

On December 2, 2009, Baxter came out as a lesbian during an interview with Matt Lauer on Today and on the Frank DeCaro Show on Sirius-XM OutQ 102. She said that accepting her sexual orientation helped her understand why, in part, previous relationships with men had failed.

On March 1, 2011, while promoting a memoir, Baxter alleged that ex-husband David Birney had emotionally and physically abused her. Birney denied the allegations. ABC News reported that:

Meredith Baxter says in a new book, Untied, that she was a victim of emotional and physical abuse... [by] then-husband David Birney, who denied the allegations... Baxter alleges that Birney hit her more than once... She writes that she coped with the marital violence by drinking heavily, but has been sober since 1990 (the year after she and Birney divorced).

The day after Baxter discussed Birney on the Today Show, she appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in Chicago to further discuss topics from her memoir. As a surprise arranged by Oprah's staff, Baxter's Family Ties co-star Michael Gross joined her on camera. Gross stated that during their seven-year collaboration on the sitcom, neither he nor anyone else connected to the series was aware of the abuse Baxter allegedly suffered at the hands of her husband, David Birney. On camera, Gross showed affection for Baxter and expressed regret that she endured the ordeal for so long. Birney vehemently denied the claims that he had abused Baxter.

Baxter is a vegetarian.

Baxter was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999. After treatment, she made a full recovery.

Filmography

Film

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Chad_Everett_Meredith_Baxter_Medical_Center_1975.JPG" caption="[[Chad Everett]] and Baxter in 1975"] ::

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role
1972	Stand Up and Be Counted	Tracy
Ben	Eve Garrison
1976	All the President's Men	Debbie Sloan
Bittersweet Love	Patricia
1990	Jezebel's Kiss	Virginia De Leo
1999	Elevator Seeking	Ann
2003	Devil's Pond	Kate
2005	Paradise Texas	Liz Cameron
The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green	Harper Green
2008	The Onion Movie	Cooking Show Chef
2010	Airline Disaster	President Harriet Franklin
2013	Reading Writing and Romance	Mrs Wenders
2014	Letter to Anita: The Ronni Sanlo Story	Herself
2019	Undateable John	Beatrice
::

Television

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	The Interns	Millie	Episode: "The Secret"
The Partridge Family	Jenny	Episode: "Where Do Mermaids Go?"
The Young Lawyers	Gloria	Episode: "The Victims"
The Doris Day Show	April	Episode: "Young Love"
1972	Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law	Ann Glover	Episode: "Words of Summer"
1972–1973	Bridget Loves Bernie	Bridget Fitzgerald Steinberg	24 episodes
1973	Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In	Herself	Episode: "Meredith Baxter and David Birney"
The Invasion of Carol Enders	Carol Enders	Television film
Doc Elliot	Jenny	Episode: "And All Ye Need to Know"
The Cat Creature	Rena Carter	Television film
1974	Barnaby Jones	Jenny Sutherland	Episode: "The Deadly Jinx"
The Stranger Who Looks Like Me	Joanne Denver	Television film
Young Love	April	Pilot aired later
1974–1975	Medical Center	Paula
Priscilla	2 episodes
1975	Target Risk	Linda Flayly	Television film
The Imposter	Julie Watson
The Streets of San Francisco	Jodi Dixon	Episode: "Deadly Silence"
The Night That Panicked America	Linda Davis	Television film
Medical Story	Erica Schiff
Sunny	2 episodes
McMillan & Wife	Faye Leonard	Episode: "Secrets for Sale"
1976	City of Angels	Mary Kingston	3 episodes
Wide World of Mystery		Episode: "Terror in the Night"
Police Woman	Liz Robson	Episode: "Sara Who?"
1976–1980	Family	Nancy Lawrence Maitland	45 episodes
1977-1982	The Love Boat	Sandy Rytell/Francesca Randall	2 episodes
1978	Little Women	Meg March	Miniseries
1979	The Family Man	Mercedes Cole	Television film
1980	Beulah Land	Lauretta Pennington	Miniseries
1981	Vanities	Joanne	Television film
The Two Lives of Carol Letner	Carol Letner
1982	Take Your Best Shot	Carol Marriner
The Love Boat	Francesca "Fran" Randall	2 episodes
1982–1989	Family Ties	Elyse Keaton	Main role, 176 episodes
1985	Family Ties Vacation	Television film
The Rape of Richard Beck	Barbara McKee
1986	Kate's Secret	Kate Stark
1987	The Long Journey Home	Maura Wells
1988	Mickey's 60th Birthday	Elyse Keaton
Winnie	Winnie
1989	American Playhouse	Eve	Episode: "The Diaries of Adam and Eve"
She Knows Too Much	Samantha White	Television film
1990	The Kissing Place	Florence Tulane
Burning Bridges	Lynn Hollinger
1991	Bump in the Night	Martha Tierney
1992	A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story	Betty Broderick
Her Final Fury: Betty Broderick - The Last Chapter	Betty Broderick	Sequel to A Woman Scorned
Stolen Love	DeeDee	ABC Television film
1993	Darkness Before Dawn	Mary Ann Guard	NBC television film
also co-executive producer
CBS Schoolbreak Special	Paula Hensen	Episode: "Other Mothers"; won a Daytime Emmy Award for her role
1994	For the Love of Aaron	Margaret Gibson	Television film
One More Mountain	Margaret Reed
My Breast	Joyce Wadler	Television film - also co-executive producer
1995	Betrayed: A Story of Three Women	Amanda Nelson
1996	The Faculty	Flynn Sullivan	13 episodes
also executive producer
After Jimmy	Maggie Stapp	Television film
1997	Dog's Best Friend	Cow (voice)
The Inheritance	Beatrice Hamilton
Let Me Call You Sweetheart	D.A. Kerry McGrath
Miracle in the Woods	Sarah Weatherby
Spin City	Macy Flaherty	Episode: "Family Affair"
1999	Holy Joe	Annie Cass	Television film
Down Will Come Baby	Leah Garr
Miracle on the 17th Green	Susan McKinley
2000	The Wednesday Woman	Muriel Davidson
2001	A Mother's Fight for Justice	Terry Stone
Aftermath	Carol
Murder on the Orient Express	Mrs. Caroline Hubbard
2002	A Christmas Visitor	Carol Boyajian
2003	7th Heaven	Mrs. Jones	Episode: "Go Ask Alice"
2004	Half & Half	Joan Tyrell	1 episode
Angel in the Family	Lorraine	Television film
2005	The Closer	Congresswoman Simmons	Episode: "Fantasy Date"
2006	Brothers & Sisters	Margaret Packard	Episode: "For the Children"
2006–2007	Cold Case	Ellen Rush	5 episodes
2007	What About Brian	Frankie	Episode: "What About All That Glitters..."
2009–2011	Family Guy	Elyse Keaton / herself / Carol	3 episodes
2009	Bound by a Secret	Ida Mae	Television film
Brothers	TV Mom	Episode: "Episode: Commercial – Coach DMV"
2010	We Have to Stop Now	Judy	Web series
Episode: "The Grass Is Always Greener"
RuPaul's Drag U	Herself	1 episode: Appeared as a guest judge
2011	The Oprah Winfrey Show	1 episode
2011–2013	Dan Vs.	Elise Sr.	4 episodes
2012–2015	Switched at Birth	Bonnie Tamblyn Dixon	2 episodes
2012	Naughty or Nice	Carol Kringle	Television film
2013	Glee	Liz	Episode: "All or Nothing"
The Neighbors	Mother Joyner	2 episodes
Shadow on the Mesa	Emilie Rawlins	Television film
2014	The Young and the Restless	Maureen Russell	18 episodes
2014–2015	Finding Carter	Gammy	10 episodes
2015	Becoming Santa	Jessica Claus	Television film
Being Mary Jane	Simone	Episode: "Some Things Are Black and White"
2016	Skirtchasers	Lilah Samuels	Television film
Hell's Kitchen	Herself	Episode: "7 Chefs Compete"
Code Black	Joanna	Episode: "Landslide"
::

Award nominations

::data[format=table]

Year	Award	Work	Result
1977	Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Family	rowspan=6
1978
1992	Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special	A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story
1994		Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Special	CBS Schoolbreak Special
2007	TV Land Award	Lady You Love To Watch Fight For Her Life in a Movie of the Week
2015	title=The 42nd Annual Daytime Emmy Award Nominations	url=http://cdn.emmyonline.org/day_42nd_nominations.pdf	publisher=emmyonline.org and National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
::

Books

References

References

1. Brant, Marley. (2006). "Happier Days: Paramount Television's Classic Sitcoms, 1974-1984". Billboard Books.
2. (1972). "TV Guide". Triangle Publications.
3. Brant, Marley. (2006). "Happier Days Paramount Television's Classic Sitcoms, 1974-1984". Billboard.
4. Baxter, Meredith. (2011). "Untied: A Memoir of Family, Fame, and Floundering". Crown Archetype.
5. Baxter 2011 pp. 41,47
6. [https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/29/theater/tv-view-cable-operators-increasingly-look-to-theater.html "TV View: Cable Operators Increasingly Look to Theater"]. ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved July 17, 2021
7. Johnson, Tony (July 28, 2008). [http://media.www.thenuherald.com/media/storage/paper1239/news/2008/07/28/NuNews/National.University.Commencement.2008-3393909.shtml "National University Commencement 2008 – Could Be Good, Could Be Bad"] {{webarchive. link. (July 16, 2009. ''The Herald''; accessed December 2, 2009.)
8. "Meredith Baxter: The Ties that Bind". The Star.
9. "Hardcover Nonfiction – March 27, 2011". The New York Times.
10. Dos Santos, Kristin. (April 13, 2013). "''Glee'' Casts Patty Duke and Meredith Baxter as Lesbian couple". [[E! News]].
11. Logan, Michael. (August 4, 2014). "Exclusive: Meredith Baxter Joins The Young and the Restless". [[TV Guide]].
12. Nahas, Aili. (December 8, 2013). "Meredith Baxter Marries Nancy Locke". People.
13. (December 2, 2009). "Actress Meredith Baxter Out on SIRIUS XM 24/7 LGBT channel". [[Windy City Times]].
14. (December 2, 2009). "Meredith Baxter: Why I Came Out". Sirius XM.
15. Rao, Vidya (December 2, 2009)[https://web.archive.org/web/20091205043904/http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/34228231/ns/today-today_people/, "'Family Ties' Mom: I Am a Lesbian — Meredith Baxter Says She Has Been Dating Women for the Past Seven Years"]. ''[[Today (NBC program). Today]]'' (via [[MSNBC]]); accessed December 2, 2009.
16. James, Susan Donaldson. (March 1, 2011). "Meredith Baxter Says Husband Abused Her". [[ABC News (United States).
17. [http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Meredith-Baxter-on-Her-Abusive-Marriage-Video Oprah's web site documents Baxter's appearance on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' on March 2, 2011]
18. [https://people.com/celebrity/david-birney-denies-abuse-claims-by-meredith-baxter Mike Fleeman,''People'' March 4th 2011,"David Birney Denies Abuse Claims By Meredith Baxter"]
19. Burros, Marian (1992). [http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-09-10-9203220624-story.html "Vegetarians are Coming and You May Be Among Them, If Prognosticators Have Guessed Right"]. ''Chicago Tribune''. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
20. (March 31, 2015). "The 42nd Annual Daytime Emmy Award Nominations". emmyonline.org and [[National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences]].

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