Leslie Easterbrook is an American actress and producer. She played Sgt./Lt./Capt. Debbie Callahan in the Police Academy films and Rhonda Lee on the television series Laverne & Shirley.
Early life Easterbrook was adopted when she was nine months old; her adoptive parents, Carl and Helen Easterbrook, raised her in Arcadia, Nebraska. She attended and graduated from Kearney High School and Stephens College. Her father was a music professor and her mother was an English teacher at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
Career Easterbrook appeared in about a dozen feature films and over 300 television episodes.
One of her earlier successes was in 1980 as Rhonda Lee beginning with season six of Laverne & Shirley. The role of Rhonda was part of the show's change of locale from Milwaukee to Burbank, California. While playing the role of Rhonda, she appeared as a panelist on Match Game taped on 27 September 1981.
Easterbrook performed as Debbie Callahan in the Police Academy film series. She told author Paul Stenning:
The funny thing is, that's not me at all. I'd never played tough. I'd played all kinds of things, but I'd never played someone who's intimidating or someone that was aggressive sexually. I was of a size that I never played the girl who got the guy. I wondered how I could do it. But I did. I went for the audition and I scared the producer and the director and then they backed up in their chairs and I went, "Oh no, now I really blew it. I scared them". So I left the audition upset. I didn't get to read the script until I got the part. I thought it was outrageous and so funny.
Easterbrook appeared in Private Resort, Murder, She Wrote, Diagnosis: Murder, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Baywatch, Matlock, Hunter, and The Dukes of Hazzard. In 2005, she replaced Karen Black as Mother Firefly in Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects, the sequel to the 2003 horror film, House of 1000 Corpses. In 2007, she played security guard Patty Frost in Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween. In 2008, she played Betty in the thriller/horror film House. In 2010, she starred in The Afflicted. She also appeared on Ryan's Hope as Devlin Kowalski. Her voice work has been featured in several projects, including Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series.
Easterbrook, an accomplished vocalist, sang the National Anthem at Super Bowl XVII which landed her starring roles in musicals on Broadway and throughout the country. In Police Academy: Mission to Moscow, she sings the Harry Akst-Grant Clarke jazz standard "Am I Blue?" atop the piano, parodying Michelle Pfeiffer's sequence from The Fabulous Baker Boys.
Easterbrook made a video, Real Beginner's Guide to the Shotgun Sports, the first in a series designed to "encourage and prepare non-shooters" for their first shooting experience. She serves on the board of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, and supports a number of children's charities. Easterbrook is a National Rifle Association member and has served on the board of directors of the California Rifle and Pistol Association.
Personal life Easterbrook was married to screenwriter Dan Wilcox until his death in 2024.Rice, Vicki (March 18, 2004). "At KHS, Easterbrook, Johnston offer scoop on understanding Hollywood, starting to act". Kearney Hub. p. 1. She is good friends with former Police Academy cast member Scott Thomson and was close friends with Marion Ramsey. Easterbrook describes the cast of the original film as a "big family."
Filmography
Film YearTitleRoleNotes1980Just Tell Me What You WantHospital Nurse1984Police AcademySgt. Debbie CallahanHis & HersSharon1985Private ResortBobbie Sue1986Police Academy 3: Back in TrainingLt. Debbie Callahan1987Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol1988Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami BeachThe Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson StoryAudreyTelevision film1989Police Academy 6: City Under SiegeLt. Debbie Callahan1994Police Academy: Mission to MoscowCapt. Debbie Callahan1995Mr. Payback: An Interactive MovieDiane Wyatt1997Two Small VoicesPatient #2Television film1998The HuntedLynn the Manager2000Big Wind on CampusScience Teacher2001The Song of the LarkJesse DarcyTelevision filmManiactsMatron Knull2002The Moment AfterStephanieShort film2003DismemberedHelen2004Tales of a Fly on the WallBud's MomTelevision film2005Long DistanceMrs. FreemanMurder at the PresidioThelma "Bunny" AtkinsTelevision filmThe Biggest FanPolice WomanThe Devil's RejectsMother Firefly2006A Dead CallingMarge2007A Family LostCarolTelevision filmCartel, 1882Fame LongstreetHalloweenPatty FrostThe Heartbreak KidJodi's MomRetribution RoadLana Gambol2008HouseBetty2009Black Water TransitBet Tannen2010Hollywood & WineHattie Mcdaniel2011The AfflictedMaggieRiftMeagan CharmsSkeletons in the ClosetEleanorShort film2012Find MeLindaSorority Party MassacreStella Fawnskin2013ClubhousePatty NewmanNevermind the DawnRoseShort filmCompound FractureAnnabelleA Little Christmas BusinessLinda CollierHouse of the WitchdoctorIrene Van Hooten2014The Wedding PactDonnaNumber RunnerBabette SchillerNightLightsGina2015Rivers 9MarthaLavalantulaDorisTelevision filmDaddyMrs. McCormackHowl of a Good TimeMarthaShort film2016Terror BirdsDr. SlaterGreaterBarbara BurlsworthSugar Skull GirlsAzreal2 Lava 2 LantulaDorisTelevision filmOf Flesh and BoneMargaretShort film2017PrisonerWomanShort filmCharlotteMarthaSegment: "Howl of a Good Time"The NeighborhoodAnnabellaDark ImagePhyllis BrowneFurious of AlabamaPaula Hargrove2018Abnormal AttractionHildie "The Witch"Intensive CareClaireA Christmas ArrangementDorothy Cromwell-Eastland2020VoicesSamantha EisnerBeast ModeZelda Zine2021Body of the MinedMorlaShort filmThe Baby PactDonna Carter2022Give Till It HurtsVeranda
Television YearTitleRoleNotes1980Me and MaxxMiss ArnoldEpisode: "Dad's Day"1980–1983Laverne & ShirleyRhonda LeeMain role (season 6–8); 51 episodes1981; 1983The Love BoatWendy / Edie Franklin2 episodes1982Fantasy IslandMichelleEpisode: "The Perfect Gentleman / Legend"The Devlin ConnectionNurseEpisode: "The Absolute Monarch of Ward C"1983Ace Crawford, Private EyeDee Dee BozwellEpisode: "Bull Bates"Trapper John, M.D.LouellaEpisode: "The Final Cut"1984The Dukes of HazzardMadame DelilahEpisode: "The Fortune Tellers"Domestic LifeKikiEpisode: "Cooking with Candy"GlitterTeri DavisEpisode: "Trouble in Paradise"1st & TenAllisonEpisode: "By the Bulls"1985BrothersProfessor Victoria KarperEpisode: "To Play or Not to Play"Misfits of ScienceStrickland's SecretaryEpisode: "Deep Freeze"1986–1987Ryan's HopeDevlin KowalskiRecurring role; 23 episodes1988OharaGloria CollinsEpisode: "X"1988; 1991; 1995Murder, She WroteVarious characters4 episodes1989It's a LivingEvelynEpisode: "Matchmaker, Matchmaker"The Munsters TodayNeighborEpisode: "Murder in Munsterland"1990Equal JusticeCharlene WestEpisode: "The Art of the Possible"1990; 1993MatlockJoanna Wilson2 episodes1991HunterJune SchwanEpisode: "Ex Marks the Spot"BaywatchDitaEpisode: "Money, Honey"1992Hangin' with Mr. CooperCoach JuddEpisode: "Cheers"Batman: The Animated SeriesRanda Duane (voice)Episode: "Heart of Steel" A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.1993Bodies of EvidenceLily McCloudEpisode: "Eleven Grains of Sand"1997Superman: The Animated SeriesMala (voice)Episode: "Blasts from the Past"Police Academy: The SeriesDebbie CallahanEpisode: "Dead Man Talking"1998Diagnosis: MurderHelen FrolickEpisode: "Food Fight"2011The Funny ManBeatriceMain role; 10 episodesWeb series2014Mr. Wang Goes to HollywoodSenator WilsonEpisode: "Science in the Hood"2018See YaLana Turner2 episodes
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