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| Portrays: | Cassiopeia | ||||
| Date of Birth: | May 16, 1951 | ||||
| Date of Death: | Missing required parameter 1=month! , | ||||
| Age: | 73 | ||||
| Nationality: |  USA
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[{{{site}}} Official Site]
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Laurette Spang-McCook (born May 16, 1951 in Buffalo, New York, USA as Laurette Michelle Spanglet) portrayed Cassiopeia in the original Battlestar Galactica.
She is credited as Laurette Spang in productions prior to 1980.
Biography
Spang was raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she was the middle child. Her father was a chemist and her mother a housewife. She has an older brother, Richard, and a younger sister, Marilyn.
She had what some would call an interesting start in the show-business. Prior to her starting out, she was an active letter-writer, penning letters to actors. She was also a "huge fan" of the gothic soap opera, Dark Shadows and of the TV western, Bonanza.
At 16, she accompanied her father on a business trip to New York City, where she waited at the stage door of Dark Shadows. In an event likely out of place in today's society, the stage guard allowed her to walk right in, leading her to actress Kathryn Leigh Scott. After their meeting, Spang would answer Scott's fan mail through high-school.
The summer of her junior year, she auditioned to be an apprentice at Williamstown Summer Theater. A year later, Scott set up an audition for Spang at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
She was spotted by an Universal talent agent in 1972, where she was signed up for a contract. The contract lead to guest starring roles in nine shows, including Emergency!, Adam-12, The Streets of San Francisco, Happy Days and Charlie's Angels. This also lead to four television movies, including Short Walk to Daylight, Runaway!, and Sarah T. - Portrait of an Alcoholic.
After her leaving the contract system, she was cast as Cassiopeia in the Battlestar Galactica mini-series, "Saga of a Star World". An initial draft would have lead to her being eaten by the Ovions, however this death was averted and she had a regular role (downgraded from the "socialator" status to a medtech) in the series.
She married John McCook on February 16, 1980. Subsequent to that, she was credited as Laurette Spang-McCook.
After appearing in Magnum, P.I. in 1984, Spang left the business for reasons unstated.
Spang appeared in the Battlestar Galactica episode of Sciography, a short-lived documentary series on the Sci-Fi Channel in 2002.
She has three children with McCook: Jake, Becky, and Molly. One of her daughters is presently interested in pursuing an acting career.
An official website for Spang was launched on April 16, 2005. (LauretteSpang.com)
Trivia
- Spang was a supporter of Glen Larson's initial revival efforts, believing that the creator had the right to do whatever he'd please with his creation.
- Spang met her future husband through co-star Jack Stauffer (Bojay).