Meredith Baxter (born June 21, 1947 in South Pasadena, California) is an American film and television actress.
Meredith Ann Baxter was born to the late actress and sitcom creator Whitney Blake and Tom Baxter, who worked in radio. Her stepfather is sitcom writer Allan Manings.
Baxter is best known for her work on two television shows. She first became popular playing the role of Nancy Lawrence Maitland on the television drama Family from 1976 to 1980. She received two Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, in 1977 and 1978. The second role is ex-flower child Elyse Keaton on the sitcom Family Ties, which aired from 1982 to 1989. In reality, she was only 14 years older than Michael J. Fox, who played her son, Alex.
In 1981, she starred with Annette O'Toole and Shelley Hack in HBO's Standing Room Only series production of Vanities.
Since Family Ties ended its run, Baxter has been directing and starring in TV movies. In 1992, she 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, in which she plays a divorcée who was convicted of murder in the shooting of her ex-husband and his young wife. She was nominated for a Daytime Emmy award in 1993 for her work as a lesbian raising a young son in the CBS after-school special "Other Mothers." In 1997, she once again played the mother of a character played by Michael J. Fox, this time on the sitcom Spin City. In 2005, she began appearing in television commercials for Garden State Life Insurance Company. In 2006 she temporarily co-hosted the Today Show with Matt Lauer. In 2007 she made a guest appearance on the ABC drama What About Brian. She also made several 2007 appearances as the dying mother of Detective Lilly Rush on the TV series Cold Case.
In recent years, she has created a skin care line called Meredith Baxter Simple Works,, which helps raise funds for her breast cancer research foundation. For her work on the television film “My Breast” (1994) she received a special award for public awareness from the National Breast Cancer Coalition.
Baxter was married three times. Her first marriage was to Robert Lewis Bush in 1966; they had two children before divorcing in 1971. Her most notable marriage was to actor David Birney, whom she met on the set of the sitcom Bridget Loves Bernie where she played his wife on the series. After the show was canceled, the couple became engaged and were married in 1974. From that date until their divorce in 1989, she was credited as Meredith Baxter Birney, a name still commonly associated with her by the general public as she went by it during her most prominent period of work. They have three children. In 1995 she married actor and screenwriter Michael Blodgett; they divorced in 2000.
Coincidentally, Baxter and her Family Ties co-star Michael Gross (who played her husband Steven Keaton), were born on the same date, June 21, 1947.
Baxter was the guest speaker at the Southern Commencement for National University and was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from the university.
Daytime Emmy Awards
Emmy Awards
TV Land Awards
