Dana Wheeler-Nicholson

The actress Dana Wheeler-Nicholson's first two movie roles were in films starring Diane Keaton: the political spy thriller "The Little Drummer Girl" and "Mrs. Soffel," in which Keaton fell in love with a young convict, played by Mel Gibson. But Wheeler-Nicholson was herself the love interest in her third picture, the cult favorite "Fletch." The eponymous hero of that film was played by Chevy Chase; he joked around, switched disguises, and fell for Wheeler-Nicholson (whose character was already hitched--to a villainous Tim Matheson). In the Western "Tombstone," she played the spouse of the legendary lawman Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell). And in between she did a lot of TV work. Wheeler-Nicholson was a series regular on the short-lived "Hill Street Blues" spinoff, "Beverly Hills Buntz," starring Dennis Franz, and then appeared with him again in an episode of his longer-lasting police drama, "NYPD Blue." She's also had guest spots on such shows as "The X-Files," "Sex and the City," "Boston Public," "Seinfeld," and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent"; a stint on the soap "All My Children"; and the role of Angela Collette, the mother of a cheerleader, on NBC's "Friday Night Lights."