Marla Heasley’s Background Is Rooted in the Entertainment Industry, Who is Her Father?

While referencing the names of reputable entertainers, Marla Heasley is no doubt a big name in the American movie industry. She is a professional American actress who turned out to be all the more commonly known for assuming a recurring role in the TV series A-Team. Her father Jack Heasley was additionally an actor known for his role in the movie Ice-Capades produced in 1941. As you read on, you get to figure out more with regards to the actress and her family background.

How old is Marla Heasley?

Marla Heasley was born on September 4, 1959, in Hollywood, California, to her parents Jack Heasley and Helen Heasley. The 65-year-old actress had her childhood days and was raised by her parents in Beverly Hills. She did her high school at the Beverly Hills Catholic School until her parents took a decision and relocated the family to Palm Springs, she was 12 at the time they moved.

Marla’s father and his twin brother were both actors and professional ice skaters

Jack Heasley who was born on August 2nd, 1915 was a professional ice skater and also an actor, he was born John Lyle Heasley and had a twin brother named Bob Hasely who was also a professional ice skater; they were popularly called The Heasley twins.

The Heasley twins as they were fondly called by people were also featured in various movies such as Ice Capades (1941), Thin Ice (1937), The 5000 Fingers of Dr.T (1953), A chump of Oxford (1940), and many others. The brothers later went further to become entertainment managers, managing the likes of Shelley Winters, Audie Murphy, and others.

Marla Heasley’s dad, Jack Heasley died at the age of 74 on January 1st, 1990 in Houston, Texas, United States of America.

Marla tried her hands in other fields before acting

Having a background that is rooted in the entertainment industry, one would have expected Marla to just grow into the entertainment industry but as a youngster growing up, she never liked or considered going into the show business like her father. Rather, her first love for a career was fashion merchandising of which she later started doing some modeling on the side while she was studying at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.

Her father had taken her to Norman Brokaw of William Moris Agency as a conduit for her to do commercials but in the process of auditioning for the commercials, she came across Zina Provendie, an acting coach who welcomed her to audition in her acting class of which Marla attended and became hopelessly enamored with acting. In a short while, she got endorsed by Norman at William Moris Agency.

Norman had already conceived a plan to send Marla out of the audition until he saw she was ready but Marla surprisingly put in her best by making sure she attended all her classes and took every lesson given to her seriously. She went further to join a repertory theatre after which she relocated to New York to study acting for a year with an acting coach and before long, Marla started doing commercials which likewise led to her landing her first role on television.

The A-Team cast image source

Marla’s first movie role was in the film “Can You Hear the Laughter”

The actress was 20 years old when she started her acting career. Her first television role was in the movie Can You Hear the Laughter which was a Freddie Prinze Story. She also landed guest roles in Gallactica 1980, The Love Boat, TJ Hooker, and many others before she became a regular face on the series The A-Team.

Heasley featured in the hit TV series The A-Team way back in the 1980s as Tawnia Baker, a newspaper reporter that was working with the team. The actress was introduced in season two of the series as a replacement for Melinda Culea who played the role of Amy Allen in the series. Melinda Culea was dropped from the series by the producers after she had insisted on being given more to do.

Her character Tawnia Baker was actually named after Tawnia Cannell the daughter of the creator of the series, Stephen J Cannell.

Why did Marla Heasley leave the A-Team?

At a point on the set of the series A-Team, Marla later left the series which was a surprise to many but it is believed that she was dropped because of the series star George Peppard who kept on insisting and pressurizing the producers that the show was better off without a female co-star.

Before her appearance on the A-Team, the actress was featured in different movies and TV shows

Prior to when the professional actress landed the role on A-Team, she has also been quite busy as she had featured in the first four episodes of star search in the spokesmodel category. She had in like manner featured in other TV shows as a guest, including Riptide, The Highwayman, T.J Hooker, The Love Boat, Mike Hammer, etc.

Heasley has also featured in the movie titled The Marrying Man in 1991, Born to Race in 1987, and Amore in 1993.

Read Also: Celeste Desjardins – Quick Facts You Didn’t Know About The Taken Actress

Marla Heasley’s Love life

The actress’s life has not just been all about her career. Being a beautiful woman, it is assumed that her love life is active. From information gathered from sources, Marla had dated and lived with singer Wayne Newton. They started dating in 1983 and after four years, they got engaged in 1987 which sadly did not result in a wedding as they broke up in 1991.

In 1992 after her recovery from her failed relationship with Wayne Newton, Marla found love again with an international business tycoon Christopher Harriman. The lovebirds dated for a long period of 9 years and finally tied the nuptial knot on March 1, 2001. There is no information on their children or if they have any.

The A-Team star is active on social media

The 65-year-old actress is quite active on social media with a large number of fans and followers. Oftentimes, Marla would post personal photos and also make videos where she would interact with her fans and answer some of their questions.

Presently, the American actress is no longer active in her profession as the actress has retired from acting after being active for 14 years. Marla ended her acting career in the year 1993.