Lani O'Grady (born Lanita Rose Agrati, October 2, 1954 – September 25, 2001) was an American actress and talent agent. She is best remembered for her role as Mary Bradford, the eldest sister from ''

Eight Is Enough ''Eight Is Enough'' is an American television comedy-drama series that ran on ABC from March 15, 1977, until May 23, 1981. The show was modeled on the life of syndicated newspaper columnist Tom Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who ...

''.

Early life

O'Grady was born Lanita Rose Agrati in

Walnut Creek A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, ''Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true bo ...

, California, to Lou A. Agrati and to Mary B. Grady (née Castellino), a children's talent agent. She was the sister of actor/musician

Don Grady Don Louis Agrati (June 8, 1944 – June 27, 2012), also known as Don Grady, was an American actor, composer, and musician. He was known foremost as one of the Mickey Mouse Mouseketeers and as Robbie Douglas on the long-running ABC CBS tele ...

. Even as a youngster, she had a low-pitched voice.

Career

O'Grady began acting at age 13 with a role in the television series ''

The High Chaparral ''The High Chaparral'' television series, which was broadcast on NBC from 1967 to 1971, is an American Western action adventure drama set in the 1870s. It stars Leif Erickson and Cameron Mitchell. The series was made by Xanadu Productions in ...

''. In the early 1970s, she appeared on ''

Harry O ''Harry O'', sometimes spelled ''Harry-O'', is an American private detective series that aired for two seasons on ABC from 1974 to 1976. The series starred David Janssen, and Jerry Thorpe was executive producer. ''Harry O'' followed the broadcast ...

'' and had a role in the 1975

television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

Cage Without a Key ''Cage Without a Key'' is a 1975 American made-for-television drama film directed by Buzz Kulik and starring Susan Dey and Sam Bottoms, with Jonelle Allen and Lani O'Grady in supporting roles. The film premiered on the CBS television network the e ...

'', starring

Susan Dey Susan Hallock Dey (born December 10, 1952) is a retired American actress, known for her television roles as Laurie Partridge on the sitcom ''The Partridge Family'' from 1970 to 1974, and as Grace Van Owen on the drama series ''L.A. Law'' from ...

. In 1976, she co-starred in the feature film ''

Massacre at Central High ''Massacre at Central High'' (released as ''Blackboard Massacre'' in the UK) is a 1976 American horror thriller film directed by Rene Daalder and starring Derrel Maury, Kimberly Beck, Robert Carradine, and Andrew Stevens. The plot follows a se ...

'' along with

Kimberly Beck Kimberly Beck (born January 9, 1956) is a former American actress and model. She is best known for her role as Trish Jarvis in Joseph Zito's '' Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter'' (1984). Her other film roles include Alfred Hitchcock's ''Marni ...

(who appeared as Nancy in the ''Eight Is Enough''

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

). The following year, O'Grady landed the role of Mary Bradford in the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

series ''

'' and changed her name to O'Grady. She appeared in 112 episodes of the series. She also reprised the role of Mary Bradford in two ''Eight Is Enough'' reunion

s in 1987 and 1989. After the series ended in 1981, O'Grady had a role in the 1982 television movie '' The Kid with the Broken Halo'' starring

Gary Coleman Gary Wayne Coleman (February 8, 1968 – May 28, 2010) was an American actor and comedian. Coleman was the highest-paid child actor on television throughout the late 1970s and 1980s. He was rated first on a list of VH1's "100 Greatest Kid S ...

. Her last acting role was as Mrs. Kramer in the

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that streams on the streaming service Peacock. The soap, which aired on the American television net ...

'' in 1990.

Personal life and demise

After suffering from

agoraphobia Agoraphobia is a mental and behavioral disorder, specifically an anxiety disorder characterized by symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives their environment to be unsafe with no easy way to escape. These situations can in ...

and memory blackouts in the early 1990s, O'Grady retired from acting and became a talent agent. She also began taking nonnarcotic medication for a diagnosed brain

chemical imbalance Scientific studies have found that different brain areas show altered activity in humans with major depressive disorder (MDD), and this has encouraged advocates of various theories that seek to identify a biochemical origin of the disease, as opp ...

. In a 1994 interview with the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', O'Grady said she had suffered from

panic attack Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear and discomfort that may include palpitations, sweating, chest pain or chest discomfort, shortness of breath, trembling, dizziness, numbness, confusion, or a feeling of impending doom or of losing ...

s since the age of 18 but was not diagnosed with

panic disorder Panic disorder is a mental disorder, mental and Abnormal behavior, behavioral disease#Disorder, disorder, specifically an anxiety disorder characterized by reoccurring unexpected panic attacks. Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear th ...

until she was 21. She also admitted that she abused prescription drugs and alcohol, including

Valium Diazepam, first marketed as Valium, is a medicine of the benzodiazepine family that acts as an anxiolytic. It is commonly used to treat a range of conditions, including anxiety, seizures, alcohol withdrawal syndrome, muscle spasms, insomnia, a ...

. In December 1998, she entered the Thalians Mental Health Department at

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2 ...

for detoxification. O'Grady died in her

mobile home A mobile home (also known as a house trailer, park home, trailer, or trailer home) is a prefabricated structure, built in a factory on a permanently attached chassis before being transported to site (either by being towed or on a trailer). Us ...

Valencia, Santa Clarita, California Valencia is a neighborhood in Santa Clarita located within Los Angeles County, California. It is one of the four unincorporated communities (along with Saugus, Newhall, and Canyon Country) that merged to create the city of Santa Clarita i ...

at age 46 on September 25, 2001. An autopsy revealed toxic levels of the painkiller

Vicodin Hydrocodone/paracetamol (also known as hydrocodone/acetaminophen) is the combination of the pain medications hydrocodone and paracetamol (acetaminophen). It is used to treat moderate to severe pain. It is taken by mouth. Recreational use is co ...

and antidepressant

Prozac Fluoxetine, sold under the brand names Prozac and Sarafem, among others, is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. It is used for the treatment of major depressive disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorde ...

in her bloodstream, and the

Los Angeles County Coroner The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner (formerly the Department of Coroner) was created in its present form in Boyle Heights on December 17, 1920 by an ordinance approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, ...

's office said she died of "multiple-drug intoxication", although the coroner was unable to determine if her death was an accident or suicide.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ogrady, Lani 1954 births 2001 deaths 20th-century American actresses Actresses from California American child actresses American film actresses American television actresses Drug-related deaths in California People from Walnut Creek, California People from Valencia, Santa Clarita, California