Here Comes Bridget Hanley

Bridget Hanley as a Bride.

Happy birthday to Bridget Hanley, born February 3, 1941 in Minneapolis. A busy television actress from the 1960s through the 1990s, she's best known for playing Candy Pruitt on ABC's Here Come the Brides (1968-70). I first saw her, though, as spoiled, petulant Wanda Reilly Taylor on NBC's Harper Valley PTA (1981-82, later called simply Harper Valley). I admired her talent as a comic nemesis for Barbara Eden, and thought she deserved even more success than she had.

Originally under contract to Screen Gems' "New Talent" program in the mid-1960s, she made guest appearances on I Dream of Jeannie, The Flying Nun, The Rookies, and many other popular shows in addition to her role on Brides. Off-screen, Ms. Hanley was married to prolific TV producer/director E.W. Swackhamer (whose credit you can find on everything from The Donna Reed Show to L.A. Law) from 1966 until his death in 1994.

Go to YouTube to see our birthday girl in action at a recent convention appearance, or stirring things up in Harper Valley.