Lois Chiles


Lois Cleveland Chiles is an American actress and former fashion model known for her roles as Dr. Holly Goodhead in the 1979 James Bond film Moonraker, and as a hit-and-run driver in 1987's Creepshow 2, as well as such films as The Great Gatsby, The Way We Were, Death on the Nile, and Broadcast News.

Early life

Chiles was born in Houston, the daughter of Marion Clay Chiles and Barbara Wayne Kirkland Chiles. Her paternal uncle was oil tycoon and Texas Rangers owner Eddie Chiles. She had two brothers: Clay Kirkland Chiles, and William Edmonds Chiles, president and CEO of Bristow Group, Inc. She was raised in Alice, Texas.
Chiles studied at the University of Texas at Austin and the former Finch College in New York City, where she was discovered by a Glamour editor looking for a young woman to feature on the cover of the magazine's annual college issue. She landed the job and soon had contracts with Wilhelmina Models in New York and Elite Models in Paris. Later, she studied acting under Roy London. She dated Don Henley but the relationship ended, and in 2005, she married money manager Richard Gilder. They are both honorary co-chairs of Northfield Mount Hermon, a school in Massachusetts. Gilder donated money to the school and they named the Chiles Theater after her.

Career

In the early 1970s, Chiles enjoyed a successful modeling career. She made her big-screen debut in Together for Days in 1972, followed by 1973's The Way We Were, in which she played opposite Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand, as Carol Ann, the college sweetheart of Redford's character. She was then cast as Jordan Baker in 1974's The Great Gatsby, alongside Mia Farrow and, again, Robert Redford.
In 1978, she appeared in the film adaptation of Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile as the murder victim Linnet Ridgeway Doyle, and in 1979, she appeared in what is perhaps her most famous role, that of NASA astronaut, scientist and Bond girl Dr. Holly Goodhead opposite Roger Moore's James Bond in Moonraker. It was Moore's fourth performance as Bond, the final 1970's Bond film, and the third Bond film that Lewis Gilbert directed, following You Only Live Twice and The Spy Who Loved Me. Chiles had initially been approached to star in the previous Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, but she declined the role as she was taking a break from acting at the time. She also appeared in a small role in the noted thriller Coma, one of the many films in which she played a murder victim.
Chiles lost her youngest brother to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1979, which contributed to her decision to take a three-year hiatus from acting just as her career seemed to be blossoming. Her film career never fully recovered, and she struggled to find roles of the caliber she had previously enjoyed, although film critic Pauline Kael gave her good notices for her performances in Alan Alda's Sweet Liberty. Her portrayal of reporter Jennifer Mack in James L. Brooks' Broadcast News was also well received, as was her turn in George A. Romero's horror flick Creepshow 2 in 1987, as a hit-and-run driver. In 1989, she appeared uncredited in a short but effective cameo as the estranged mother of Ione Skye's character in Say Anything....
She has since appeared as a stuffy high-school principal in the 1996 Disney film Wish Upon a Star, and as a frightened cruise passenger in the critically panned ' in 1997. She made a cameo appearance in the international release of the 1997 Bond spoof ', though her scene was cut in the United States release.
She has worked in television, playing J.R. Ewing's love interest Holly Harwood in the 1982–1983 season of Dallas and guest appearances in series such as Hart to Hart, In the Heat of the Night, Murder, She Wrote, and The Nanny. Later career high points included the indie films Diary of a Hitman and Curdled. In 2005, friend Quentin Tarantino, with whom she had previously worked on the set of Curdled, recruited her to appear in the two-episode finale of season five of , which he wrote and directed.
In the spring of 2002, she taught a course in film acting at the University of Houston. Unlike some "Bond girls", Chiles has said that "being a Bond girl is a fun way to be remembered", although she jokes that being asked to sigh "Oh, James" is as annoying as "you can't live up to people's fantasies".

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1972Together for DaysShelley
1973The Way We WereCarol Ann
1974The Great GatsbyJordan Baker
1978ComaNancy Greenly
1978Death on the NileLinnet Ridgeway
1979MoonrakerDr. Holly Goodhead
1981Hart to HartMary Scott / ScottieTV series，Season 2（1 episode）
1982–1983DallasHolly HarwoodTV series，Season 6（22 episode） and Season 7（2 episode）
1984CourageRuth
1986Sweet LibertyLeslie
1986Dark MansionsJessica DrakeTV movie
1987Creepshow 2Annie Lansing
1987Tales from the Hollywood Hills: A Table at Ciro'sLita NathanTV movie
1987Broadcast NewsJennifer Mack
1989Say Anything...Diane's Mother
1989TwisterVirginia
1990Burning BridgesClaire MorganTV movie
1990In the Eye of the SnakeClaire Anzer—Marc's Mother
1990Murder, She WroteMillie Bingham StaffordTV series，Season 7（1 episode）
1991Veronica ClareTV series，Season 1（1 episode）and Season 2（1 episode）
1991Bis ans Ende der WeltElsa Farber
1991Diary of a HitmanSheila
1992ObsessedLouiseTV movie
1993In the Heat of the NightMuriel GrayTV series，Season 6（1 episode）
1993Civil WarsAlexandra PhelpsTV series，Season 2（1 episode）
1993CrossroadsReneeTV series，Season 1（1episode）
1993Lush LifeLucyTV movie
1994L.A. LawCamilla GreerTV series，Season 8（1 episode）
1995The BabysitterBernice Holsten
1995FlipperAllison Van RijnTV series，Season 1（1 episode）
1996CurdledKatrina Brandt
1996Wish Upon a StarMittermonsterTV movie
1997BlissEva
1997The NannyElaineTV series，Season 4（1 episode）
1997'Steamrolled Henchman's Wife
1997'Celeste
1998Black Cat RunAda Bronnel
2000Eventual WifeSusan's Mothershort
2002Any Day NowJudgeTV series，Season 4（1 episode）
2002'Susan BakerTV movie
2005'Jillian StokesTV series，Season 5 (episode: "Grave Danger"）
2006Kettle of FishJean