Shanna Reed is an American retired actress and dancer. She is best-known for playing Polly Cooper McGillis on the sitcom Major Dad.
Early years Kansas City, Kansas-born Shanna Herron was seven years old when her father, Carl Herron, an engineer, died in a car accident in 1962, leaving her mother, Mary Lou ( Thompson; 1928–2014) with five children and pregnant.Biodata, sitcomsonline.com. Accessed April 22, 2025. Within two years she married ex-Marine Tommy Reed (1913–2012), a jazz saxophonist and leader of the Tommy Reed Orchestra. Mary Lou and Tommy Reed had a child, creating a blended family of seven children.Obituary: Mary Reed, legacy.com. Accessed April 22, 2025. Mary Lou Reed taught dancing for Arthur Murray dance studios. After the marriage, the family moved to Phoenix, where Reed grew up. Her mother and stepfather operated a talent-booking agency there, and her mother had another child. Reed attended Arizona State University for a year.
Career After she left Arizona State, Reed danced at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas, and in 1975 she was one of 12 dancers who, along with a singer, entertained in the Middle East and Europe. After they returned to the United States, she joined the national touring company of A Chorus Line. She also had a replacement role in A Chorus Line on Broadway, and she performed on Broadway in Dancin''' (1978).
Reed's additional television credits include roles in Promised Land, Beverly Hills, 90210, Touched by an Angel, Cheers, Magnum, P.I., The Colbys, Simon & Simon, Hotel, I Had Three Wives, Knight Rider, T.J. Hooker, Fantasy Island, Texas, and Newhart''.
Personal life Reed married film director Terrence O'Hara.
Filmography + Television and film roles Year Title Role Notes1980TexasTerry Decker1980–1981 (TV series)1982GavilanEpisode: "Best Friend Money Can Buy"1983LegsLisaTV movieCasablancaEpisode: "Jenny"The Dukes of HazzardAnna LisaEpisode: "Lulu's Gone Away"NewhartIris BeechamEpisode: "The Looks of Love"For Love and HonorPhyllis Wiecek1983–1984 (12 episodes)1984The MasterKelly PattersonEpisode: "Out-of-Time Step"T.J. HookerAngie QuinnEpisode: "Hooker's Run"Fantasy IslandLaura MartinEpisode: "Mermaid and the Matchmaker/The Obsolete Man"Knight RiderBarbara BellinghamEpisode: "Let It Be Me"Simon & SimonValerie BartlettEpisode: "The Dark Side of the Street"Mike HammerAnaEpisode: "Warpath"1985BrakerDede DrummondTV moviesMidas ValleyLillian HammondMirrorsDianeHotelJoanna KorsakEpisode: "Anniversary"I Had Three WivesLiz5 episodes1986The ColbysAdrienne Cassidy1986–1987 (14 episodes)1988Magnum, P.I.Sarah AmlinEpisode: "The Great Hawaiian Adventure Company"ThrobSheriEpisode: "Men Without Lips"Houston KnightsEpisode: "Cajun Spice"HeartbeatCaroline PetrieEpisode: "Where's Solomon When You Need Him?"Episode: "Cory's Loss"Episode: "To Heal a Doctor"Desert RatsTV movie1st & TenEpisode: "The Bulls Own Up"CheersSuzanne PorterEpisode: "Swear to God"1989The BankerSharonMajor DadPolly Cooper McGillis1989–1993 (96 episodes)1990The Love Boat: A Valentine VoyageNina MorganTV moviesCoins in the FountainBonnie1993The Trouble with LarrySally Easden Burton Flatt7 episodesShadowhunterWaitressTV moviesMoment of Truth: Stalking BackLinda Anello1994The Babymaker: The Dr. Cecil Jacobson StorySue CastellanoDon't Talk to StrangersJane1995The Sister-in-LawMadeleine Richards WarnerRemember MeElaine Archer1996Stand Against FearAnne WilsonAlien AvengersRhondaRattledKrista DonohueTouched by an AngelMorgan BellEpisode: "Statute of Limitations"1998Beverly Hills, 90210Patricia MyersEpisode: "All That Glitters"The Night CallerDr. Lindsay Roland1999Promised LandHelen SaundersEpisode: "In the Money"
References
External links
Clips from Texas episodes