| Occupation: | Actress, producer |
| Yearsactive: | 1978–present |
| Spouse: |
Leslie Easterbrook is an American actress and producer. She played Sgt./Lt./Capt. Debbie Callahan in the Police Academy films and Rhonda Lee on the television series Laverne & Shirley.
Easterbrook was adopted when she was nine months old;[1] her adoptive parents, Carl and Helen Easterbrook, raised her in Arcadia, Nebraska. She attended and graduated from Kearney High School and Stephens College. Her father was a music professor and her mother was an English teacher at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.[2]
Easterbrook appeared in about a dozen feature films and over 300 television episodes.
One of her earlier successes was in 1980 as Rhonda Lee beginning with season six of Laverne & Shirley. The role of Rhonda was part of the show's change of locale from Milwaukee to Burbank, California. While playing the role of Rhonda, she appeared as a panelist on Match Game taped on 27 September 1981.
Easterbrook performed as Debbie Callahan in the Police Academy film series.[3] [4] Easterbrook told author Paul Stenning,
The funny thing is, that's not me at all. I'd never played tough. I'd played all kinds of things, but I'd never played someone who's intimidating or someone that was aggressive sexually. I was of a size that I never played the girl who got the guy. I wondered how I could do it. But I did. I went for the audition and I scared the producer and the director and then they backed up in their chairs and I went 'Oh no, now I really blew it. I scared them.' So I left the audition upset. I didn't get to read the script until I got the part. I thought it was outrageous and so funny.[5]
Easterbrook appeared in Private Resort, Murder, She Wrote, , Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Baywatch, Matlock, Hunter, and The Dukes of Hazzard.[6] In 2005, she replaced Karen Black as Mother Firefly in Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects, the sequel to the 2003 horror film, House of 1000 Corpses. In 2007, she played security guard Patty Frost in Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween. In 2008, she played as Betty in the thriller/horror film House.[7] In 2010, she starred in The Afflicted. She also appeared on Ryan's Hope as Devlin Kowalski. Her voice work has been featured in several projects, including and .
She sang the National Anthem at Super Bowl XVII[8] which landed her starring roles in musicals on Broadway[9] and throughout the country; she recorded a song for the soundtrack of .
Easterbrook made a video, Real Beginner's Guide to the Shotgun Sports, the first in a series designed to encourage and prepare nonshooters for their first shooting experience. Easterbrook serves on the board of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, and supports a number of children's charities. Easterbrook is a National Rifle Association member and has served on the board of directors of the California Rifle and Pistol Association.[10] [11]
Easterbrook was married to screenwriter Dan Wilcox until his death in 2024.[12] [13] She is good friends with former Police Academy cast member Scott Thomson and was close friends with Marion Ramsey. Easterbrook describes the cast of the original film as a "big family."[14]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Just Tell Me What You Want | Hospital Nurse | ||
| 1984 | Police Academy | Sgt. Debbie Callahan | ||
| His & Hers | Sharon | |||
| 1985 | Private Resort | Bobbie Sue | ||
| 1986 | Debbie Callahan | |||
| 1987 | ||||
| 1988 | ||||
| The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Deckerson Story | Audrey | Television film | ||
| 1989 | Debbie Callahan | |||
| 1994 | ||||
| 1995 | Diane Wyatt | |||
| 1997 | Two Small Voices | Patient #2 | Television film | |
| 1998 | The Hunted | Lynn the Manager | ||
| 2000 | Big Wind on Campus | Science Teacher | ||
| 2001 | The Song of the Lark | Jesse Darcy | Television film | |
| Maniacts | Matron Knull | |||
| 2002 | The Moment After | Stephanie | Short film | |
| 2003 | Dismembered | Helen | ||
| 2004 | Tales of a Fly on the Wall | Bud's Mom | Television film | |
| 2005 | Long Distance | Mrs. Freeman | ||
| Murder at the Presidio | Thelma "Bunny" Atkins | Television film | ||
| The Biggest Fan | Police Woman | |||
| The Devil's Rejects | Mother Firefly | |||
| 2006 | A Dead Calling | Marge | ||
| 2007 | A Family Lost | Carol | Television film | |
| Cartel, 1882 | Fame Longstreet | |||
| Halloween | Patty Frost | |||
| The Heartbreak Kid | Jodi's Mom | |||
| Retribution Road | Lana Gambol | |||
| 2008 | House | Betty | ||
| 2009 | Black Water Transit | Bet Tannen | ||
| 2010 | Hollywood & Wine | Hattie Mcdaniel | ||
| 2011 | The Afflicted | Maggie | ||
| Rift | Meagan Charms | |||
| Skeletons in the Closet | Eleanor | Short film | ||
| 2012 | Find Me | Linda | ||
| Sorority Party Massacre | Stella Fawnskin | |||
| 2013 | Clubhouse | Patty Newman | ||
| Nevermind the Dawn | Rose | Short film | ||
| Compound Fracture | Annabelle | |||
| A Little Christmas Business | Linda Collier | |||
| House of the Witchdoctor | Irene Van Hooten | |||
| 2014 | The Wedding Pact | Donna | ||
| Number Runner | Babette Schiller | |||
| NightLights | Gina | |||
| 2015 | Rivers 9 | Martha | ||
| Lavalantula | Doris | Television film[15] | ||
| Daddy | Mrs. McCormack | |||
| Howl of a Good Time | Martha | Short film | ||
| 2016 | Terror Birds | Dr. Slater | ||
| Greater | Barbara Burlsworth | [16] | ||
| Sugar Skull Girls | Azreal | |||
| 2 Lava 2 Lantula | Doris | Television film[17] | ||
| Of Flesh and Bone | Margaret | Short film | ||
| 2017 | Prisoner | Woman | Short film | |
| Charlotte | Martha | Segment: "Howl of a Good Time" | ||
| The Neighborhood | Annabella | |||
| Dark Image | Phyllis Browne | |||
| Furious of Alabama | Paula Hargrove | |||
| 2018 | Abnormal Attraction | Hildie "The Witch" | ||
| Intensive Care | Claire | |||
| A Christmas Arrangement | Dorothy Cromwell-Eastland | |||
| 2020 | Voices | Samantha Eisner | ||
| Beast Mode | Zelda Zine | [18] | ||
| 2021 | Body of the Mined | Morla | Short film | |
| The Baby Pact | Donna Carter | [19] | ||
| 2022 | Give Till It Hurts | Veranda |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Me and Maxx | Miss Arnold | Episode: "Dad's Day" | |
| 1980–1983 | Laverne & Shirley | Rhonda Lee | Main role (season 6–8); 51 episodes | |
| 1981; 1983 | The Love Boat | Wendy / Edie Franklin | 2 episodes | |
| 1982 | Fantasy Island | Michelle | Episode: "The Perfect Gentleman / Legend" | |
| The Devlin Connection | Nurse | Episode: "The Absolute Monarch of Ward C" | ||
| 1983 | Ace Crawford, Private Eye | Dee Dee Bozwell | Episode: "Bull Bates" | |
| Trapper John, M.D. | Louella | Episode: "The Final Cut" | ||
| 1984 | The Dukes of Hazzard | Madame Delilah | Episode: "The Fortune Tellers" | |
| Domestic Life | Kiki | Episode: "Cooking with Candy" | ||
| Glitter | Teri Davis | Episode: "Trouble in Paradise" | ||
| 1st & Ten | Allison | Episode: "By the Bulls" | ||
| 1985 | Brothers | Professor Victoria Karper | Episode: "To Play or Not to Play" | |
| Misfits of Science | Strickland's Secretary | Episode: "Deep Freeze" | ||
| 1986–1987 | Ryan's Hope | Devlin Kowalski | Recurring role; 23 episodes | |
| 1988 | Ohara | Gloria Collins | Episode: "X" | |
| 1988; 1991; 1995 | Murder, She Wrote | Various characters | 4 episodes | |
| 1989 | It's a Living | Evelyn | Episode: "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" | |
| The Munsters Today | Neighbor | Episode: "Murder in Munsterland" | ||
| 1990 | Equal Justice | Charlene West | Episode: "The Art of the Possible" | |
| 1990; 1993 | Matlock | Joanna Wilson | 2 episodes | |
| 1991 | Hunter | June Schwan | Episode: "Ex Marks the Spot" | |
| Baywatch | Dita | Episode: "Money, Honey" | ||
| 1992 | Hangin' with Mr. Cooper | Coach Judd | Episode: "Cheers" | |
| Randa Duane (voice) | Episode: "Heart of Steel" | |||
| 1993 | Bodies of Evidence | Lily McCloud | Episode: "Eleven Grains of Sand" | |
| 1997 | Mala (voice) | Episode: "Blasts from the Past"[20] | ||
| Debbie Callahan | Episode: "Dead Man Talking" | |||
| 1998 | Helen Frolick | Episode: "Food Fight" | ||
| 2011 | The Funny Man | Beatrice | Main role; 10 episodes Web series | |
| 2014 | Mr. Wang Goes to Hollywood | Senator Wilson | Episode: "Science in the Hood" | |
| 2018 | See Ya | Lana Turner | 2 episodes |