Indira Stefanianna (born Indira Stefanianna Christopherson; December 15, 1946), also credited as Indira Danks and Stefanianna Christopherson, is an American actress and singer of Icelandic heritage, perhaps best known for her role as the original voice of

Daphne Blake Daphne Blake is a fictional character in the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise. Daphne, depicted as coming from a wealthy family, is noted for her beauty, orange hair, lavender heels, fashion sense, and her knack for getting into danger, hence the nickna ...

on ''

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' is an American animated television comedy, comedy television series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera for CBS. The series premiered as part of Children's programming on CBS, the network ...

'' during its first (1969) season.

Early life

Christopherson was born and raised in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, the daughter of Lorne Christopherson, who was from

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, and her mother, Hrafnhildur (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Snorradóttir), who was born in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. She and her mother would sing

nursery rhymes A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. From t ...

together when Christopherson was a little girl, and she aspired to one day become a professional singer and actress. After graduating high school, Christopherson studied voice and piano at the Peninsula Conservatory of Music, and attended two colleges: the

College of San Mateo College of San Mateo (CSM) is a public community college in San Mateo, California. It is part of the San Mateo County Community College District. College of San Mateo is located at the northern corridor of Silicon Valley and situated on a 15 ...

and

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 ...

Career

Christopherson has worked as a character actor, stage actress, and recording artist in addition to her voice work. At the age of 18, she moved to Iceland and had a singing career in several languages. After returning to the United States, she started her stage career by appearing in such productions as ''The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'' (directed by

Andrei Șerban Andrei Șerban (born June 21, 1943) is a Romanian- American theater director. A major name in twentieth-century theater, he is renowned for his innovative and iconoclastic interpretations and stagings. In 1992 he became Professor of Theater at th ...

) at

The Public Theater The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...

, playing the character of Genevieve, and

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

Harry Ruby Harry Rubenstein (January 27, 1895 – February 23, 1974), known professionally as Harry Ruby, was an American actor, pianist, composer, songwriter and screenwriter, who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.Paul Lazarus Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

) and ''Noo Yawk Tawk'' (directed by Richmond Shepard), in addition to several film and television roles. She made her television debut in 1967 as that episode's bachelorette on ''

The Dating Game ''The Dating Game'' is an American television game show that first aired on December 20, 1965, and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s. ABC dropped the show on July 6, 1973, but it c ...

''. In 1968, Christopherson was cast as the lead in a film titled ''Reality'', about a girl spending her weekend at a resort. She appeared in the Prince Street Players' musical adaptation of ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'' in 1972. She was also the original voice of

on ''

'' for the first season in 1969 before taking leave to move to New York with her husband, Rabindra Danks. Her replacement for the rest of the series (and various spinoffs and specials in the franchise through 2003) was

Heather North Heather May North (December 13, 1945 – November 29, 2017) was an American actress, best known for voicing Daphne Blake in the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise. Early years North was born in Pasadena, California. Heather was close with actress and v ...

. Other voice work included the role of Princess Dawn on ''

Here Comes the Grump ''Here Comes the Grump'' is an animated cartoon series produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises and aired on NBC from 1969 to 1970. It was later shown in reruns on Sci-Fi Channel's Cartoon Quest. Structured as a battle between good and evil, the ...

'', which she performed while also voicing Daphne, additional voices on ''

Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels ''Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels'' is an American animated mystery comedy series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for ABC. The series aired during the network's Saturday morning schedule from Sep ...

'' and providing voiceovers for Scholastic Media in

Clifford the Big Red Dog ''Clifford the Big Red Dog'' is an American children's book series about the adventures of a precocious girl named Emily Elizabeth and her titular pet: a giant, red-furred dog named Clifford. It was first published in 1963 and was written by No ...

and the series Your

Community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

Changes Every Day (for which she won the DuKane Citizenship Award). Christopherson is also well known for penning and singing commercial jingles and songs. She sang in the

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...

jingle ''Reach Out and Touch Someone'', with music composed by David Lucas, and won a Clio Award. She sang and wrote the lyrics to the song "Crystal of a Star", along with composer

Doug Katsaros Doug Katsaros is an American keyboardist, arranger, composer, and conductor. Biography In 1978 he played on Paul Stanley's debut album, followed by working on albums by Richie Havens, Michael Bolton, Arc Angel, Bon Jovi and his band Balance ...

, which was used as the closing song for the 1986 film '' Star Crystal''.

Personal life

Christopherson married Rabindra Danks, an artist, on October 24, 1969. During their marriage they worked on albums together. After eleven years of marriage, the couple divorced on October 31, 1980. She has one son named K.C.Katsaros.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Indira Stefanianna Christopherson and Dean Pitchford in the Public Theatre stage production The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
photo taken by

Martha Swope Martha Joan Swope (February 22, 1928 – January 12, 2017) was an American photographer of theatre and dance. Early life and education Born in Tyler, Texas, she studied at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, before becoming a student at the Schoo ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Stefanianna, Indira 1946 births Living people American film actresses American voice actresses American television actresses 20th-century American actresses Actresses from San Francisco American people of Icelandic descent American people of Canadian descent American women singers Hanna-Barbera people 21st-century American women