Jane Badler (born December 31, 1953) is an American-Australian actress and singer. She is known for her role as Diana, the main antagonist in

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

series '' V'' between 1983 and 1985. Badler also appeared in ABC's version of '' V'' in 2011, again playing an alien named Diana, who this time is the mother of the series' chief antagonist, Anna. Badler has also become an established

nightclub singer A nightclub act is a production, usually of nightclub music or comedy, designed for performance at a nightclub, a type of drinking establishment, by a nightclub performer such as a nightclub singer or nightclub dancer, whose performance may ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, where she lives, and has released three albums.

Early life and education

Badler was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Her family is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. Badler spent her teen years in Great Neck, New York, moving to

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644. Manchester is, along with Nashua, one of two seats of New Ha ...

, when she was in high school. When Badler was 18, her father and brother were killed in a plane crash. Badler won the title Miss New Hampshire and competed at the 1973

Miss America Pageant Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

. Subsequently, she enrolled at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...

, to study drama.

Career

Film career

Badler's first television role was Melinda Cramer Janssen on the American daytime

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio drama ...

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as a web series on Hulu and iTunes ...

'', which she played from 1977 to 1981 and again in 1983. During her run, she also appeared in a 1979 episode of the primetime series ''

Fantasy Island ''Fantasy Island'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Gene Levitt. It aired on ABC from 1977 to 1984. The series starred Ricardo Montalbán as the mysterious Mr. Roarke and Hervé Villechaize as his assistant, Tatto ...

''. Badler also starred on the daytime soap opera '' The Doctors'' as Natalie Bell from 1981 to 1982. Badler then won her most prominent role, that of the villainous alien Diana in the

sci-fi miniseries '' V'' (1983). She reprised the role in the sequel miniseries '' V: The Final Battle'' (1984) and again on '' V: The Series'', which ran for one season from 1984 to 1985. Following ''V'', Badler co-starred with

José Ferrer José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón (January 8, 1912 – January 26, 1992) was a Puerto Rican actor and director of stage, film and television. He was one of the most celebrated and esteemed Hispanic American actors during his lifetime, w ...

in the made-for-TV supernatural thriller ''Covenant''. The following year she guest-starred as Meredith Braxton throughout the 1986–87 season of the CBS primetime soap opera ''

Falcon Crest ''Falcon Crest'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired for nine seasons on CBS from December 4, 1981, to May 17, 1990. The series revolves around the feuding factions of the wealthy Gioberti/Channing family in the California ...

''. Her other guest appearances during the 1980s included ''

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'', ''

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'' and ''

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 seri ...

''. In 1987, she played the role of Tania Winthrop in the short-lived action-adventure series '' The Highwayman''. She then traveled to

to play agent Shannon Reed in the 1980s revival of '' Mission: Impossible'', joining the series midway through its first season (replacing actress

Terry Markwell Terry Markwell (born Teresa Markwell, 1952) is an American actress. Markwell is probably best recognized for having appeared as IMF agent Casey Randall in the 1988–1989 season of '' Mission: Impossible'', playing the only IMF agent in a '' Mis ...

, and her character of Casey Randall); then stayed with the series for its second season before it was cancelled in early 1990. After the series ended, Badler moved to Australia permanently and married businessman Stephen Hains. They have two sons, Sam and Harry. She later appeared in the role of Mrs Peacock on the Australian game show ''

Cluedo ''Cluedo'' (), known as ''Clue'' in North America, is a murder mystery game for three to six players (depending on editions) that was devised in 1943 by British board game designer Anthony E. Pratt. The game was first manufactured by Waddin ...

'' from 1992 to 1993, and had a guest-starring role in '' Snowy River: The McGregor Saga'' in 1995. In March 2010, Badler was cast as the villainous Diana Marshall in the Australian soap opera ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...

''. She had a four-month guest contract with the show. A remake of ''V'' premiered in late 2009, and although this version did not include the character of Diana, the series'

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights ...

, Scott Peters, suggested that Badler and other stars from the original version may be offered guest roles as new characters. In August 2010, it was announced that Badler would be joining the series as a new version of Diana, the mother of the Visitors' evil leader Anna (

Morena Baccarin Morena Silva de Vaz Setta Baccarin (; born 2 June 1979) is a Brazilian actress known for portraying Inara Serra in the sci-fi series '' Firefly'' and its follow-up film '' Serenity'', Vanessa in the superhero comedy franchise ''Deadpool'', Jes ...

). Badler appeared in nine of the second season's ten episodes, commencing in January 2011. In the second-season finale, her character was killed by Anna, and ABC decided to not renew the series for a third season. In November 2020 Badler played Lauren Balmer in the horror film ''Surrogate''. The film will be released internationally in September 2022.

Music and theatre career

Already an able singer when she competed in the Miss New Hampshire and Miss America Pageants, Badler forged a career in cabaret and on the stage in the 2005

Magnormos Magnormos is an independent musical theatre production company based in Melbourne, Australia, that specialises in musicals written by Australian writers and lesser-known international works. Its productions have included the Australian premiere of ...

production of '' archy & mehitabel'', based on

Don Marquis Donald Robert Perry Marquis ( ; July 29, 1878 – December 29, 1937) was an American humorist, journalist, and author. He was variously a novelist, poet, newspaper columnist, and playwright. He is remembered best for creating the characters Arc ...

's books of poetry. She also appeared in ''Sextet'', ''Big Hair in America'', and with acclaimed Australian director Robert Chuter (who also directed two of her cabaret shows in 2000) she appeared in ''The Singing Forest'', ''

The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby ...

'' and her one-woman show ''Shakin' the Blues Away'' in which she also sang. Other productions in which she appeared for Magnormos included a concert of the musical ''Rebecca'' and ''OzMade Musicals''. Badler released her debut album (backed by the

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

-based band Sir) on June 1, 2008. Titled '' The Devil Has My Double'', it is an autobiographical album which has been described as "a compulsive mix of fame, sex and solitude, set to a sweeping soundtrack of cold soul and passionate synthetics". As part of promotion for the album, she gave an extensive interview about her work to the Boxcutters podcast. Badler released her second album, ''Tears Again,'' in 2011. She then teamed up with Australian musicians Matt Doll and Byron St John to co-write her third album, ''Opus'', which was released in September 2014.

Personal life

Badler married Australian businessman Stephen Hains in 1990. The couple met while she was filming ''Mission Impossible'' in Australia. Badler remained in Australia and the couple reside in

. They have two children. On January 7, 2020, Badler announced that her 27-year-old son, actor Harry Hains, died of a

fentanyl Fentanyl, also spelled fentanil, is a very potent synthetic opioid used as a pain medication. Together with other drugs, fentanyl is used for anesthesia. It is also used illicitly as a recreational drug, sometimes mixed with heroin, cocain ...

overdose following a battle with “mental illness, chronic sleeping disorders, and addiction".Harry Hains, 'American Horror Story' actor, dead at 27
/ref>

Filmography

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

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surrogatefilm
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"The Devil Has My Double" preview site

Jane Badler interviewed on Boxcutters podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Badler, Jane 1953 births Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American singers Actresses from New York City Actresses from New Hampshire American beauty pageant winners American expatriates in Australia American women pop singers American film actresses American soap opera actresses American television actresses Manchester Central High School alumni Miss America 1970s delegates Musicians from Brooklyn People from Great Neck, New York Northwestern University School of Communication alumni Nightclub performers 21st-century American women singers Jewish American actresses Jewish women singers 21st-century American Jews