Teresa "Teri" Austin (born April 17, 1957) is a Canadian animal activist and former actress. She had her greatest acting success in the 1980s and 1990s, and is best known for her role as Jill Bennett in the CBS primetime soap opera ''

Knots Landing ''Knots Landing'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on CBS from December 27, 1979, to May 13, 1993. A spin-off of ''Dallas'', it was set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles and initially centered on the lives of ...

'', and as co-host of the Canadian

reality series Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

Thrill of a Lifetime ''Thrill of a Lifetime'' is a television reality series (before that term was coined) created by Sidney M. Cohen (who also directed many of the episodes) and Willie Stein. It was telecast from 1981 to 1988 in Canada on the CTV network. ''Thril ...

''.

Early life

Austin was born and raised in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada. She graduated from

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

in Toronto.

Career

Austin began her acting career in Canada where she worked in television, film radio and theatre and co-hosted the show

before moving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career there. Austin is best known for her performance as Jill Bennett on CBS series ''

''. She played the role from 1985 to 1989, and in 1990 won

Soap Opera Digest Award ''The Soap Opera Digest Awards'', originally known as ''The Soapy Awards'' when introduced in 1977, is an awards show held by the daytime television magazine ''Soap Opera Digest''. History 1977 until 1983 The Soapy Awards were an award presen ...

for Outstanding Villain: Prime Time. She also appeared in '' Quantum Leap'', ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...

'', '' Matlock'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

L.A. Law ''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series that ran for eight seasons on NBC, from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it centers on the partners, associates and staff of a Los ...

'', and returned to soap roles in '' Beverly Hills, 90210'' and ''

Models Inc. ''Models Inc.'' is an American prime time soap opera that aired on Fox during the 1994–95 television season. A spin-off of ''Melrose Place'', it is the third series in the ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' franchise. ''Models Inc.'' revolves around ...

''. In film, she appeared in '' The Vindicator'' (1986) and ''

Raising Cain ''Raising Cain'' is a 1992 American psychological horror thriller film written and directed by Brian De Palma, and starring John Lithgow, Lolita Davidovich and Steven Bauer. Plot Respected child psychologist Dr. Carter Nix's wife, Jenny, become ...

'' (1992). In 2001, Austin left acting and began working as animal activist in Los Angeles, creating The Amanda Foundation.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Teri 1957 births Actresses from Toronto Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses Living people York University alumni