Biography
Susan Anton is an American actress and vocalist with over 35 years of experience in a variety of entertainment sectors, including television, cinema, theater, and concerts. Her breakthrough feature, “Golden Girl,” won her a Golden Globe nomination, which led to a deal with NBC for her variety program, “Presenting Susan Anton.” Later, ABC cast her in the drama series “Cliffhangers.”
Age
She is 73 years old as of 12 October 2023. She was born in 1950 in Oak Glen, California, United States
Family – Education
Anton attended Yucaipa High School in California, where he graduated in 1968. Anton studied at San Bernardino Valley College after graduating from high school. She rose to prominence after winning the local Miss Redlands and then Miss California beauty contests in 1969, and she tied for second place in the 1969 Miss America Scholarship Pageant, which was held on September 6.
Husband
She and her husband, filmmaker Jeff Lester, have been based in Las Vegas for nearly 20 years and launched Big Picture Studios in 1997. She was married to Jack Stein from 1975 until 1980.
Height
She stands at a height of 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m).
Presenting Susan Anton
She went on to star in her own variety program, Presenting Susan Anton, Stop Susan Williams (one of three Cliffhangers serials), and the films Goldengirl, Spring Fever, and Cannonball Run II.
Cannonball Run II
She appeared as Jill Rivers in the 1984 American action comedy film Cannonball Run II. Sheik Abdul ben Falafel’s father orders him to win another Cannonball Run in America to become the world’s fastest man. To secure his success, he employs Doctor Nikolas Van Helsing and J.J. McClure as in-car physicians. Most of the participants from the first race return, including J.J. and Victor, who have taken employment with a flying stunt crew. Meanwhile, Blake and Fenderbaum are facing financial difficulties with Don Don Canneloni and mafia enforcer Hymie Kaplan.
Don Don devises a strategy to kidnap the Sheik and demand money. The race begins with J.J. and Victor disguised as US Army generals and his driver, with additional racers including Jackie Chan, Jill Rivers, and Marcie Thatcher joining in. Don Don’s enforcers continue to make mistakes, and the racers band together to raid Don Don’s “Pinto Ranch”. The Sheik finances Don Don’s Ranch and announces a $2 million prize for the winner. The Sheik loses again, blaming the doctor for injecting him with an unknown chemical.
Goldengirl
She appearted as Goldine Serafin in the 1979 American drama sci-fi sports film Goldengirl. Anton appears on the cover of the mass commercial paperback edition of Goldengirl, written by Peter Lovesey (using the pen name Peter Lear).
Serafin, a neo-Nazi doctor, injects vitamins and hormones into his adopted daughter, Goldine, to make her physically superior. He intends to test this on Goldine by offering her three races at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Serafin funds his work by selling interests in Goldine’s future to businesspeople, while Dr. Sammy Lee handles her psychological and emotional development. Goldine’s performance at the Olympics was unexpected.
Career
Anton gained popularity in 1976 for her Muriel Cigar ads, in which she sang, “Let Muriel turn you on / That is my desire / Muriel lights a flame in me / Where there’s Muriel smoke, there’s fire”. Later in the 1970s, Anton made about 30 appearances on Merv Griffin’s television show. She was frequently seen and heard in television, print, and radio advertisements for Serta’s Perfect Sleeper mattress. In these advertisements, she introduced herself and sang the company’s jingle.
The Osmond Brothers produced her and country singer Mel Tillis’ summertime variety show, Mel and Susan Together, on ABC in 1978. Anton and Tillis were an unusual couple: he was well-known in country music circles but not a national household name, and Susan was virtually unknown. The show ended after four weeks; however, she was later named one of Time Magazine’s “Most Promising Faces of 1979”. She also made music, with her biggest hit being “Killin’ Time” (1980), a duet with country artist Fred Knoblock. The song peaked at number 28 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and reached the top ten in the country charts. Anton appeared in an episode of the TV comedy series Night Court titled “The Talk Show” in 1990, as talk show producer Margo Hunter.
Anton hosted the successful “Great Radio City Music Hall Spectacular” concert at the Flamingo Hilton in Las Vegas for almost 5,000 performances, which ended on July 31, 2000. She also featured in the Las Vegas production of the musical Hairspray and on Broadway in The Will Rogers Follies, Hurlyburly, and All Shook Up.
She had a recurrent part on the TV series Baywatch from 1992 to 1994, and she has featured as herself on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (2006), The Larry Sanders Show (1993), It’s Garry Shandling’s Show (1987), and in several films. She most recently appeared in 2016’s Sharknado: The Fourth Awakens. Anton featured on an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit that aired March 31, 2010. Anton played Carree Tole in the 2020 feature psychological thriller Painter.