What happened to Leslie Easterbrook after Police Academy?

Publish date: 2024-05-06
 

Who is Leslie Easterbrook?

American actress Leslie Easterbrook was born in Los Angeles, California USA, on 29 July 1949, meaning that Leo is her zodiac sign. She has 109 acting credits, but is perhaps still known best for playing Sergeant Callahan in the 1984 comedy movie “Police Academy”, which starred G. W. Bailey and Steve Guttenberg, and was written and directed by Hugh Wilson. It follows a group of misfits who’ve enrolled at police academy, and the movie won a Golden Screen Award, Germany.

Leslie’s still today active in the movie industry, and is currently shooting for the upcoming films “Stuck!” and “William Froste”.

Education and early life

Leslie was raised in Arcadia, Nebraska by her adoptive parents Helen and Carl Easterbrook, who took her in when she was nine months old; she hasn’t spoken about having siblings, and it’s believed that her parents adopted her because her adoptive mother was unable to conceive. Helen taught English language and literature at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, while Carl was a music professor.

Leslie studied at Kearney High School and fell in love with acting at the age of 16, and began appearing in school plays; she was also into music, mostly because of her father. Leslie matriculated in 1967, and then enrolled at Stephens College, from which she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in 1971.

It remains unknown what Leslie did for the following nine years, prior to launching her acting career.

Roles in movies

Leslie’s debut film role was playing Hospital Nurse in the 1980 romantic comedy “Just Tell Me What You Want”, and she could then have been seen appearing in the 1984 comedy “His & Hers”, the 1985 comedy “Private Resort”, and the 1986 comedy “Police Academy 3: Back in Training”.

In 1987, she portrayed Callahan in the popular crime comedy “Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol”, which starred Bubba Smith and Steve Guttenberg, and was directed by Jim Drake. It follows Police Academy graduates who’ve begun training a group of civilians, and the film was nominated for two awards. The remainder of the ‘80s saw Leslie appear in the 1988 crime comedy “Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach”, the 1988 drama “The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story” and the 1989 crime comedy “Police Academy 6: City Under Siege”.

The year 1994 saw Leslie portray Captain Callahan in the crime comedy “Police Academy: Mission to Moscow”, which starred George Gaynes and G. W. Bailey, and was directed by Alan Metter. It follows Police Academy veterans who’ve been hired by the Russian government to deal with the Mafia. Leslie had only a couple of film roles in the remainder of the ‘90s, including in the 1997 drama “Two Small Voices”, the 1998 crime action “The Hunted”, and the 2000 comedy “Big Wind on Campus”.

Leslie Easterbrook #80sLadies pic.twitter.com/9emg6WwVWx

— Sluts and Guts (@sluts_guts) September 7, 2022

In 2001, she played Jesse Darcy in the drama “The Song of the Lark”, which starred Maximilian Schell and Alison Elliott, and was directed by Karen Arthur. Set in the second half of the 19th century, the film follows a country girl who’s dreaming of moving to a big city and becoming a professional pianist. Leslie was then cast to appear in the 2001 action comedy “Maniacts”, the 2003 crime action horror “Dismembered”, and the 2004 comedy “Tales of a Fly on the Wall”.

What also marked the 2000s for her was playing Bet Tannen in the 2009 crime drama “Black Water Transit”, which starred Brittany Snow and Karl Urban, and was directed by Tony Kaye. It follows the lives of several lawyers, police officers and criminals.

The year 2011 saw Leslie appear in five movies, including the comedy “Hollywood & Wine”, the horror thriller “The Afflicted”, and another horror thriller “Rift”. In 2014, she portrayed Gina in the drama “Night Lights”, which starred Stephen Louis Grush and Shawna Waldron, and was written and directed by David Midell; the film follows Erin Logan as she’s raising her autistic twin brother Jacob.

Leslie’s three most recent movie roles have been in the 2021 short science fiction thriller “Body of the Mined”, and in 2022 the  comedies “The Baby Pact” and “Give Till It Hurts”.

Roles in TV series

Leslie’s debut TV series role was playing Miss Arnold in the 1980 episode “Dad’s Day” of the comedy “Me and Maxx”, and she was then cast to appear in an episode of the comedy “Aloha Paradise”, the family adventure “Fantasy Island” and the mystery comedy “Ace Crawford… Private Eye”.

From 1980 through 1983, she played Rhonda Lee in the family comedy “Laverne & Shirley”, which starred Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams, and was created by Garry Marshall and Lowell Ganz. It follows the lives of two single women, the series aired from 1976 through 1983 and won two of its 10 award nominations. The remainder of the ‘80s saw Leslie appear in an episode of various series, such as the action comedy “The Dukes of Hazzard”, the sports comedy “1st & Ten” and the comedy “Brothers”.

She had only a couple of TV series roles in the ‘90s, and the most popular amongst these was perhaps the crime mystery “Murder, She Wrote”, in which she played three characters in four episodes from 1988 through 1995. The series starred William Windom and Angela Lansbury, was created by Richard Levinson and follows the work of amateur sleuth and author Jessica Fletcher; it aired from 1984 through 1996 and won 36 of the 91 awards for which it was nominated.

Leslie had no TV series roles in the 2000s, and her following came in 2011, when cast to play Beatrice in 10 episodes of the horror “The Funny Man”, which starred Abby Wathen and Ryan Reyes, and follows a villain who’s videotaping his victims, asking them to tell a joke before killing them; it won four awards.

Leslie’s since appeared in only two TV series, playing Senator Wilson in the 2014 episode “Science in the Hood” of the short comedy “Mr. Wang Goes to Hollywood” and Lana Turner in two episodes of the 2018 comedy “See Ya”.

Other credits

Leslie sang the song “You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Want to Do It)” in the 1982 episode “Jinxed” of the series “Laverne & Shirley”, the song “Team Thing” in the 1986 movie “Police Academy 3: Back in Training” and the song “Am I Blue?” in the 1994 movie “Police Academy: Mission to Moscow”.

She produced the 2011 horror thriller movie “The Afflicted”, the 2018 adventure fantasy comedy movie “Abnormal Attraction” and the 2018 action thriller comedy “Intensive Care”.

Leslie’s received 10 special thanks, most recently for the 2015 short horror comedy movie “Howl of a Good Time”, the 2020 horror film “Penance Lane” and the 2020 horror comedy movie “Monster Killers”.

Some of her recent talk-show appearances have been in “Entertainment Tonight”, “Trailer Park Kids” and “Notes and Nerds”.

Awards and nominations

Leslie’s won two of her five award nominations: a 2006 Scream Award for Most Vile Villain and a 2006 Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Supporting Actress, both for her performance in the 2005 crime horror movie “The Devil’s Rejects”, which follows the murderous Firefly family as they’re running away from vengeful Sheriff Wydell.

Leslie was also nominated for a 2017 Utah Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actress, for “Clubhouse”, a 2018 Hollywood South Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actress and a 2019 Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema Award for Best Supporting Actress – Feature Film, both for her performance in “Abnormal Attraction”.

Love life and relationships

Leslie’s married twice. Her first husband was the late American actor Victor Holchak, who appeared in 19 movies and TV series, and is perhaps still remembered best for starring as Howard Hughes in the 1977 biographical movie “Hughes and Harlow: Angels in Hell”. Leslie and Victor married in a private ceremony on 17 May 1979, and their divorce was finalized in 1988; Victor died on 5 September 2014, aged 74.

Leslie’s today married to American screenwriter and producer Dan Wilcox, who’s perhaps known best for writing 36 episodes of the critically acclaimed war comedy series “M*A*S*H”, which aired from 1972 through 1983 and won 63 of its 116 award nominations. The exact date of Leslie and Dan’s wedding hasn’t been disclosed, but it’s believed that they’ve been together for more than 15 years now.

There are no other men whom Leslie’s perhaps been with, that we know about; she’s married to her second husband Dan Wilcox as of July 2023, and doesn’t have children.

Interesting facts and hobbies

Leslie’s good friends with American actor Scott Thomson, whom she met on the set of the 1984 movie “Police Academy”, and she was also good friends with the late American actress and singer Marion Ramsey, who also appeared in “Police Academy”.

She’s today a board member of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, and also works with a number of other charity organizations, including Variety Children’ Charities, The Sunshine Kids and Girls, Inc.

Leslie performed the National Anthem at Super Bowl XVII.

Her own theatre The Leslie Easterbrook Auditorium has been opened in Nottingham, England.

Leslie’s father was a skilled trumpet professor, and taught her to play the instrument for her role in the 1976 series “Laverne & Shirley”.

Angelina Jolie’s one of Leslie’s favorite actresses, and some of her favorite movies include “The One and Only Ivan”, “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” and “Pushing Tin”.

Height, eyes and wealth

Leslie’s age is 74. She has brown eyes and blonde hair, is 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall and weighs around 140lbs (64kgs).

Leslie’s net worth’s been estimated at over $1.5 million, as of July 2023.

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