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Karen Valentine
Karen Valentine
	Valentine in 1995
Born	Karen Lynne Valentine; May 25, 1947 (age 77); Sebastopol, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1964–2004
Known for	Role of Alice Johnson in Room 222; Hot Lead and Cold Feet; The North Avenue Irregulars; Hollywood Squares;
Spouses	; Mac McLaughlin (m. 1969⁠–⁠1973) ; Gary Lewis Verna (m. 1977)
Awards	Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Karen Valentine (born May 25, 1947) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as young idealistic schoolteacher Alice Johnson in the ABC comedy drama series Room 222 from 1969 to 1974, for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1970, and received a Golden Globe Award nomination in 1971. She later went to star in her own short-lived sitcom Karen (1975), and played leading roles in the Disney films Hot Lead and Cold Feet (1978) and The North Avenue Irregulars (1979).

Early life

Valentine was born in Sebastopol, California on May 25, 1947. She is of Portuguese heritage, and her grandfather changed the family name from Valentin before her birth.^[2] She attended Birmingham High School^[3] and Analy High School, graduating with the class of 1965.^[4]^[5]^[6] Valentine was crowned 1964 Miss Sonoma County.^[4]

Career

In 1966–1967, she started her television career as "The Resident Dream Girl" on Chuck Barris's The Dream Girl of 1967, replacing Beverly Adams from the first weekday broadcast opposite hosts Dick Stewart and Wink Martindale, and during that time, she appeared on another Chuck Barris show, The Dating Game.

In 1969, Valentine played Gidget in the 1969 film Gidget Grows Up. In 1969, Valentine won her breakthrough role as a student teacher and then a new teacher on the ABC television series Room 222 with Lloyd Haynes, Denise Nicholas, and Michael Constantine.^[7]^[8]^[9] She was discovered by Gene Reynolds, the director of Room 222, who saw her fumbling^[10] in her audition and realized she was funny.^[11] She was nominated twice for an Emmy and once for a Golden Globe, winning an Emmy in 1970 for Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role.^[12]

In 1974, an unsold sitcom pilot, The Karen Valentine Program never aired.^[13] In 1975, Valentine starred in her own television series, Karen.^[14] She played the title role in the critically acclaimed true story Muggable Mary, Street Cop (1982). Valentine appeared in many other movies for television including The Daughters of Joshua Cabe (1972); Coffee, Tea or Me? (1973); The Girl Who Came Gift-Wrapped (1974); Murder at the World Series (1977); Go West, Young Girl (1978); Money on the Side and Skeezer (1982). Valentine was a semi-regular on The Hollywood Squares from 1971 to 1977 on both NBC-TV and in syndication, often trading quips with Paul Lynde. She guest-starred on many series, including Starsky & Hutch; Baretta; Cybill; and Murder, She Wrote; as well as multiple episodes of The Love Boat and Love, American Style. She had a starring role in the 25th episode of the third season of the 1985 revival of The Twilight Zone, entitled "Many, Many Monkeys".

Her feature films include Forever Young, Forever Free (1975); Hot Lead and Cold Feet (1978); The North Avenue Irregulars; (1979) and The Power Within (1995). She also has had many leading roles in made-for-television movies.^[8]

Valentine has continued to work in television and on stage. She co-starred with John Larroquette in a 2004 Hallmark Channel TV movie, Wedding Daze. She has starred on stage in many productions, including Romantic Comedy on Broadway and National Tour, Breaking Legs Off-Broadway and National Tour, and the Los Angeles production of Steel Magnolias.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1975	Forever Young, Forever Free	Carol Anne	Alternate Release Title: e'Lollipop
1978	Hot Lead and Cold Feet	Jenny	Disney Film
1979	The North Avenue Irregulars	Jane	Disney Film
1995	The Power Within	Clyda Dryer	Alternate Release Title: Los Annilos del Poder (Spain) Alternate Release Title: Le Pouvoir de vaincre (France)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1966-1967	Dream Girl of '67	Self - Hostess	(as The Resident Dream Girl) 170 episodes
1969	My Friend Tony		Episode: The Shortest Courtship
1969	Gidget Grows Up	Gidget Lawrence	ABC Movie of the Week
1970	22nd Primetime Emmy Awards	Herself - Winner	TV Special Emmy Award Winner
1971	The Bold Ones: The New Doctors	Gayle Ritter	Episode: Tender Predator
	23rd Primetime Emmy Awards	Herself - Presenter	TV Special
	Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In	Guest Performer	Episode: Karen Valentine
1970-1972	Love, American Style	Pat Stark / Jane / Alice Graff / Marty Feniman	Episode: (segment "Love and the Coed Dorm") Episode: (segment "Love and the Elopement") Episode: (segment "Love and the Four-Sided Triangle") Episode: (segment "Love and the Scroungers")
1972	Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law	Donna Cohen	Episode: Murder in the Abstract
1972	The Daughters of Joshua Cabe	Charity	TV Movie
1973	The Karen Valentine Show	Karen Scott	TV Special
1973	Coffee, Tea or Me?	Carol Burnham / Carol Byrnes	TV Movie
1969-1974	Room 222	Alice Johnson	113 episodes
1974	The Girl Who Came Gift-Wrapped	Sandy Brown / Sandy Benson	TV Movie
1975	Karen	Karen Angelo	13 episodes
1971-1975	The Mike Douglas Show	Herself	10 episodes
1975	Baretta	Holly	Episode: A Bite in the Apple
1976	The Love Boat	Ellen Carmichael	TV Movie
1976	Having Babies	Beth Paterno	TV Movie
1977	McMillan	Sergeant Maureen Rupert	Episode: Dark Sunrise
1970-1977	The Hollywood Squares	Self - Panelist	263 episodes
1977	The Sonny & Cher Show	Guest performer	One episode January 2, 1977^[15]
1977	Murder at the World Series	Lois Marshall	TV Movie
1975-1977	Dinah!	Herself	7 episodes
1977	Starsky & Hutch	Diana Harmon	Episode: Fatal Charm
1978	Fantasy Island	Janet Fleming	Episode: Return to Fantasy Island
1978	The Love Boat	Taffy Martino	Episode: The Eyes of Love / Masquerade / Hollywood Royalty / The Caper S1 E15
1979	America 2100	Dr. Karen Harland	TV Movie
1979	Eischied	Margaret Manning	Episode: Only the Pretty Girls Die: Part 1 Episode: Only the Pretty Girls Die: Part 2
1982	Muggable Mary, Street Cop	Mary Glatzle	TV Movie
	Goodbye Doesn't Mean Forever	Paula McFadden	TV Movie
	Adams House	Chris Bennett	TV Movie
	Skeezer	Carrie Jessup	TV Movie
	Money on the Side	Janice Vernon	TV Movie
1983	Illusions	Linda Dobbins	TV Movie
	Jane Doe	Victoria Schaffer	TV Movie
	A Girl's Life	Gay Brooks	TV Movie
1984	Children in the Crossfire	Pam Chandler	TV Movie
1984	He's Fired, She's Fired	Annabelle Grier	TV Movie
1986	The Disney Sunday Movie	Meg Taylor	Episode: A Fighting Choice
1987	The New Mike Hammer	Sister Amelia	Episode: Who Killed Sister Lorna
1987	Hotel	Rebecca Lloyd	Episode: Hotel Second Thoughts
1988	She's the Sheriff	Rosalind	Episode: Hair
	Murder, She Wrote	Ellen Cosgrove	Episode: Murder Through the Looking Glass
	Perfect People	Margo	TV Movie
1989	The Twilight Zone	Claire Hendricks	Episode: Many, Many Monkeys
1990	Hurricane Sam	Jeanie Kelvin	TV Movie
1990	Monsters	Victoria	Episode: The Young and the Headless
1991	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Donna Stern	Episode: The Emancipation of Lizzie Stern
1994	The Untouchables	Pascualina Petucci	Episode: Til Death Do Us Part
1996	Cybill	Wanda	Episode: Three Women and a Dummy
2000	Family Law	Karen Anderson Bell	Episode: Affairs of the State
2004	Wedding Daze	Audrey Landry	TV Movie
2009	GSN Live	Self	2 episodes
2009	Whatever Happened To?	Self	Episode: Cutie Pies

Soundtrack

Year	Production	Notes
1975	Monsanto Night Presents Johnny Mathis in the Canadian Rockies	TV Special performer: "I'm Old-Fashioned", "Put a Little Love in Your Heart", "Buttons and Bows", "Canadian Sunset" and "Banff".
1976	The Sonny and Cher Show	TV series performer: "The Channel 86 Cutesy News Theme", "TV-themes medley" (uncredited)

Theater

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	Romantic Comedy	Phoebe Craddock	Broadway September 16, 1980 - October 18, 1980
1992	Breaking Legs	Angie	Off-Broadway September 29, 1992 - October 31, 1992

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Production	Result
1970	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in Comedy	as Alice Johnson in Room 222	Won
1971	Emmy Awards		as Alice Johnson in Room 222	Nominated
1971	Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Television	Room 222 as Miss Alice Johnson	Nominated
2003	TV Land Awards	Classic TV Teacher of the Year	Room 222	Nominated

References

^ Karen Valentine at the TCM Movie Database
^ "Karen Valentine". AllMovie. Archived from the original on January 29, 2021. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
^ "Birmingham Community Charter High School". Archived from the original on December 10, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
^ ^a ^b Balicki Weber, Janet (August 28, 2017). "Sonoma County celebrity high school grads, now and then". Archived from the original on March 26, 2024. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
^ Smith, Chris (February 29, 2016). "Smith: Piner High School graduate Mathew McGahan hoping chairs will turn on 'The Voice'". Archived from the original on March 26, 2024. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
^ Digitale, Robert (February 5, 2008). "Notable moments to be rememberedfor generations of alumni May 17". Archived from the original on March 26, 2024. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
^ "Room 222: A Look Back at Walt Whitman High". Paley Center. 10 May 2010. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Movies". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
^ "Karen Valentine: Actress' fumble led to Emmy-winning role". NJ.com. 2013-10-25. Archived from the original on 28 January 2024. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
^ Paterson, Diana (12 March 2018). "Please Report to Room 222". thewritelife61. Archived from the original on 28 January 2024. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
^ "Gene Reynolds". Television Academy Interviews. 22 October 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
^ "Karen Valentine". Television Academy. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
^ "The Karen Valentine Program". Television Obscurities. 17 August 2009. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
^ Nolasco, Stephanie (19 September 2019). "'Room 222' star Karen Valentine recalls 'awful' encounter after 'The Dating Game'". Fox News. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
^ DVD of episode