Deena Freeman (born February 11, 1956) is an American actress who has appeared in movies, television and commercials. Freeman is most remembered for her role as April, the niece of Henry Rush in the sitcom ''

Too Close for Comfort ''Too Close for Comfort'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on ABC from November 11, 1980, to May 5, 1983, and in first-run syndication from April 7, 1984, to February 7, 1987. Its name was changed to ''The Ted Knight Show'' whe ...

'' (1981–1982). Freeman was born in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...

. Along with appearing in high school stage productions, she became a regular member of the TheatreWorks acting company. She was a featured player in several productions, including ''

Story Theatre Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (Britis ...

'' (1975) and ''

Ah, Wilderness! ''Ah, Wilderness!'' is a comedy by American playwright Eugene O'Neill that premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on October 2, 1933. It differs from a typical O'Neill play in its happy ending for the central character, and depiction of a ...

'' (1976) where she performed as Mildred Miller (with

Željko Ivanek Željko Ivanek (né Šimić-Ivanek; ; ; born August 15, 1957) is an American actor, known for his role as Ray Fiske on ''Damages'', for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award. Ivanek is also known for his role of Ed Danvers on '' Homicide: Life on t ...

as her brother, Richard). After high school, Freeman studied acting at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

, and did graduate work at

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''University Challenge'', a popular British quiz programme airing on BBC Two ** '' University Challenge (New Zealand)'', the New Zealand version of the British programme * Universal Century, one of the ti ...

. Her first television appearance was in the TV movie ''In Trouble'', with Nancy Cartwright and Lisa Freeman, following which she was cast in ''Too Close For Comfort''. She made appearances in several TV shows, including ''

Newhart ''Newhart'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from October 25, 1982, to May 21, 1990, with a total of 184 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons. The series stars Bob Newhart and Mary Frann as an author and his wife, ...

'', '' The White Shadow'', '' Crazy Like a Fox'', and Bea Arthur’s daughter on ''

The Golden Girls ''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Bea Arthur, Betty White ...

''. Freeman appeared in numerous commercials, and was honored by the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

for her body of commercial work. She did

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-Diegetic#Film sound and music, diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, th ...

s for several cartoons and games, including ''

Monsters, Inc. ''Monsters, Inc.'' (also known as ''Monsters, Incorporated'') is a 2001 American computer-animated Monster movie, monster comedy film produced by Pixar, Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Featuring the voices of John Goodman, B ...

'' and ''

The Incredibles ''The Incredibles'' is a 2004 American computer-animated superhero film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Written and directed by Brad Bird, it stars the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah V ...

''. She is married to producer

David Brandes David Brandes (born David Brändle; December 9, 1968 in Basel, Switzerland) is a Swiss-born German songwriter and producer. Biography Brandes was born in Basel, Switzerland and raised in Germany. He has written and produced for many artists, ...

, and has two daughters, Aviva and Noa Brandes, who also are actresses. She founded her own acting studio for kids and teens in Los Angeles called Deena Freeman Kids and Teen acting studio.

References

External links

*
Deena Freeman
– actress's personal website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Deena Jewish American actresses Actresses from California American television actresses 1956 births Living people 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women