Cynthia Lauren Tewes () is an American actress. She played Julie McCoy on the

television drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms t ...

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a differ ...

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pac ...

'', which originally aired on

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 ...

from 1977 to 1986.

Early years

Tewes was born in

Braddock, Pennsylvania Braddock is a borough located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It is upstream from the mouth of the Monongahela River. The population was 1,721 as of the 2020 census. The borough is represented by the Pen ...

, of German extraction and one of four children, to Joanne (née Woods) and Joseph Robert Tewes, a wood pattern maker. Her early childhood was spent in industrial

Trafford Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, with an estimated population of 235,493 in 2017. It covers Retrieved on 13 December 2007. and includes the area of Old Trafford and the towns of Altrincham, Stretford, Ur ...

, near Pittsburgh before the family moved to

Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 United States ...

, when she was eight. Tewes attended Ada S. Nelson Elementary School and Pioneer High School, where she studied drama, winning Best Actress award for three years. Tewes enrolled on an Associate of Arts degree at

Rio Hondo College Rio Hondo College is a public community college in Whittier, California. The college is named after the Rio Hondo. Founded in 1960, it mainly serves the cities of Whittier, Pico Rivera, Santa Fe Springs, El Monte, and South El Monte. Rio Hon ...

, deciding to major in theatre arts. At college, she won "The Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Theatre", a one-year scholarship which enabled her to transfer to the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...

, as a sophomore. In 1973, when her scholarship expired, Tewes withdrew from college and joined the Pacific Conservatory Theatre in Santa Maria, California, as an apprentice, making her stage debut in '' Arsenic and Old Lace'' and ''

The Most Happy Fella ''The Most Happy Fella'' is a 1956 musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Frank Loesser. The story, about a romance between an older man and younger woman, is based on the 1924 play '' They Knew What They Wanted'' by Sidney Howard. The show i ...

'' before becoming a member of the Birdcage Theatre Company at

Knott's Berry Farm Knott's Berry Farm is a theme park located in Buena Park, California, owned and operated by Cedar Fair. In 2015, it was the twelfth-most-visited theme park in North America and averages approximately 4 million visitors per year. It features 40 ...

, an amusement complex outside Los Angeles.

Career

Tewes' first break came in mid-1974 when she starred in a Lipton Ice Tea commercial, allowing her to join 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 ...

and register with an agent with the prospect to work on film projects. In 1975, while waitressing in Sunset Boulevard coffee shops and penniless, she suffered a traumatic loss when her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer and died a year later. Tewes was soon cast in roles on the prime time TV series ''

Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, producing five seasons and 115 episodes. The series was created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and was produced by Aa ...

'' ("Angels in Chains"), ''

Vega$ ''Vegas'' (stylized as ''Vega$'') is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 20, 1978, to June 3, 1981, with the pilot episode airing April 25, 1978. ''Vegas'' was produced by Aaron Spelling and created by Mic ...

'' (My Darling Daughter), and ''

Family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

'' ("Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...") as Jill Redfield, a disenchanted Pasadena debutante. However, it was her role in '' Starsky & Hutch'' ("Starsky and Hutch Are Guilty") as Sharon Freemont, an assistant district attorney, which brought her to the attention of

Aaron Spelling Aaron Spelling (April 22, 1923 June 23, 2006) was an American film and television producer and occasional actor. His productions included the TV series ''Family'' (1976–1980), '' Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1981), ''The Love Boat'' (1977–1986 ...

. Tewes was cast for the role of cruise director Julie McCoy on ''

,'' selected from more than 100 actresses who auditioned. She starred in the third and final pilot of the show, cast the day before production began on the RMS ''Queen Mary'' in Long Beach. Tewes recalls the pilot episode: "I had to borrow money to get a new tire, because my ’62 Volkswagen Bug was not going to get to San Pedro…. That first day, standing there in the little outfit, and I had to say, ”Hi, welcome aboard, I’m Julie McCoy, your cruise director” a gazillion times. But I kept screwing it up and saying, ”Hi, welcome aboard, I’m Julie MacLeod…” because I was talking to

Gavin MacLeod Gavin MacLeod () (born Allan George See; February 28, 1931 – May 29, 2021) was an American actor best known for his roles as news writer Murray Slaughter on ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' and ship's captain Merrill Stubing on ABC's '' The Love ...

and I was so excited." In parallel, Tewes appeared in 1979 TV film ''Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders'' alongside

Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was List of English consorts, Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their Wives of Henry VIII, marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen followi ...

and made her film debut in the 1981 movie '' Eyes of a Stranger'', which co-starred a young

Jennifer Jason Leigh Jennifer Jason Leigh (born Jennifer Leigh Morrow; February 5, 1962) is an American actress. She began her career on television during the 1970s before making her film breakthrough as Stacy Hamilton in ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' (1982). She ...

. In 1984, after seven seasons on ''The Love Boat'', Tewes was replaced after a highly public battle with cocaine addiction, which she eventually overcame. She did reprise her role as a guest in a 1985 episode, and in the TV movies in the 1986–87 season. Tewes was cast in a 1985

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

sitcom pilot ''Anything for Love''. The pilot aired as a special that summer, but was not picked up as a series. She went on to star in classic 1980s TV series ''

My Two Dads ''My Two Dads'' is an American sitcom television series that was produced by Michael Jacobs Productions in association with Tri-Star Television (later Columbia Pictures Television) and distributed by TeleVentures. It starred Paul Reiser, Greg ...

'', ''The New Mike Hammer'', ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

'', ''

T.J. Hooker ''T. J. Hooker'' is an American police drama television program starring William Shatner in the title role as a 15-year veteran police sergeant. The series premiered as a mid-season replacement on March 13, 1982, on ABC and ran on the network un ...

'' and ''Hunter''. In 1994, Tewes moved to Seattle and focused on regional theatre acting and directing across the country. In Seattle, she performed with the Tacoma Actors Guild and the Seattle Repertory Theatre. As well as doing voice-overs for commercials, Tewes continued her TV career and appeared in a 1998 episode of '' Love Boat: The Next Wave'', a revival of the original series. In 2000–01, she had a recurring role as a police detective on '' The Fugitive''. Tewes plays Maxine Murdoch in the '' Imagination Theatre'' comedy-mystery radio series ''Murder and the Murdochs'', which debuted in 2020. She has also played roles in episodes of other radio series on ''Imagination Theatre''.

Culinary school

Tewes attended culinary school to become a

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...

specialist and works as a

sous-chef A sous-chef is a chef who is second in command in a kitchen; the person ranking next after the head chef, usually the more hands on manager with regards to training staff and organising the kitchen. Duties and functions The sous-chef has many re ...

for a

catering Catering is the business of providing food service at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major services be ...

company in Seattle when not acting.

Personal life

Tewes has been married three times, first to John Wassel, a TV commercials director, then to Paolo Nonnis, an Italian drummer, and finally stage actor Robert Nadir. In 1987, she suffered the loss of her one month-old daughter, born prematurely.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tewes, Lauren Living people Actors from Whittier, California Actresses from Pennsylvania American film actresses American people of German descent American stage actresses American television actresses American voice actresses People from Braddock, Pennsylvania University of California, Riverside alumni People from Whittier, California 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American women Year of birth missing (living people)