Veronica Hamel is a retired model and Hollywood actress, who is best known for her role of Joyce Davenport, the public defender in the TV series ‘Hill Street Blues’.
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Contents
Early life and family
Veronica Hamel was born on November 20, 1943 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, so she is of American nationality and her zodiac sign is Scorpio. Veronica’s father was a carpenter, while her mother was a housewife and took care of her children. It is known that Veronica was not the only child in her family, but there is no information about the number of brothers and sisters, because she likes to keep her private life quiet. From her early years, Veronica knew she was beautiful enough to start a modeling career, so she dreamed of it since she was a teenager.
However, she had to work as a secretary for a factory that produced ironing board covers to save some money and to feel independent from her parents.
Educational background
Veronica graduated from her local high school in Philadelphia in 1960 at the age of 17 and immediately started working as a model. She tried to study at Temple University, but her tight work schedule left her no choice but to drop out and focus on her modeling career, which made her a lot of money despite her young age.
Career
Modeling career
In her 1982 interview with People magazine, Veronica . said shared that she started working as a model anonymously, and enjoyed being able to hide her real name.
Discovered by Eileen Cecile Ford, the co-founder of Ford Models, 17-year-old Veronica began modeling for Vogue and participated in multiple photo shoots and runway shows; her photos in haute couture dresses are now called “iconic” by many sources and magazines. She had the chance to wear the legendary Mondrian dress created by Yves Saint Laurent, captured in September 1965 by one of the most famous photographers of the time, Helmut Newton.
Veronica worked as a model for over ten years, earning a six-figure salary and often having the opportunity to travel the world. She is also known for her appearance in the last cigarette commercial that aired in the US, when Richard Nixon, who was the US president at the time, signed a law banning cigarette advertising on TV and radio.
The last cigarette commercial appeared on TV at midnight between December 31, 1970 and January 1, 1971, during a “Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show” commercial break; Veronica was featured in the short episode of the advertisement.
However, at the age of 30, Veronica got bored (she insists it was her own decision and not the lack of vacancies) and decided to conquer Hollywood as an actress. In 1971, she appeared as a model in the movie “Klute” starring Jane Fonda and Charles Cioffi, which made her think she had made the right choice, so she closed all her modeling contracts and prepared to go to Los Angeles. to move house.
Starting an acting career
In 1975, Veronica got her first Hollywood role, playing Elenora in the episode “How Cruel the Frost, How Bright the Stars” of the TV series “Kojak”.
In 1976 she appeared on such series as “The Bob Newhart Show”, “Starsky & Hutch”, “Switch” and “The Rockford Files”. Then she played Vicki Webber in one of the episodes of “Family”, and Laura Koshko in the TV miniseries “79 Park Avenue”. Veronica struggled a lot during her early years in Hollywood, as she was always offered similar roles by beautiful women who don’t talk too much and usually smile while filming: “There’s a stigma on models – that you can’t walk and talk at the same time, let stand acting. So you have to work twice as hard,” she recalls her early acting experience in one of her own Interviews to people. In that regard, she declined an offer to become an angel for the “Charlie’s Angels” series; she was considered for the role of Kelly Garrett, but when the producers learned of her decision to turn down the role, they chose Jaclyn Smith instead.
Veronica recalls her agents “were in tears, cramps, convulsions” when they heard the news that she turned down the offer, but Veronica felt she made the right choice and finally stopped the boring pattern of life on her appearance. “They said it would make me a star. But I said, “You’re talking about my life, my job — and I’ll be miserable,” she recalled the situation.
Starring “Hill Street Blues”
After several years of episodic roles on such series as “The Eddie Capra Mysteries”, “The Hustler of Muscle Beach” and “Eischied”, Veronica was cast in 1981 on the series “Hill Street Blues”. She got the part of Joyce Davenport, an independent, dedicated and smart lawyer, and that role really made her famous. Veronica shared that she liked the role as both Joyce and Veronica themselves were “no appendages” and lived on their own and never lived by anyone else.
However, in a few years of playing the public defender, Veronica felt a little uncomfortable filming in the series’ sixth season: “We’re feeling the changes, of course — I wasn’t happy about it and I don’t think anyone would be happy.” was about it – but <...> everyone was trying to be professional and supportive and get it going,” she said in her 1985 interview with The Morning Call. The show was rumored to be closing after season six, but none of the cast wanted to talk about it. . The seventh season aired in 1986, after which the series eventually ended. Veronica wanted to play more comedic roles, as she admired Kay Kendall, the late British comedian, so after “Hill Street Blues” was cancelled, Veronica was ready to jump into other series.
further career
Done with the miniseries “Kane & Abel” (1985), in which Veronica played Kate Kane, the actress mainly appeared in TV movies, as if she had had enough of series.
She has appeared in TV movies such as “A New Life” (1988), “She Said No” (1990) and “Stop at Nothing” (1991). She also starred in “The Disappearance of Nora” (1993), “The Conviction of Kitty Dodds” (1993), and “A Child’s Cry for Help” (1994). Veronica got the part of Lily Munster in “Here Come the Munsters” (1995), that of Sadie in “Talk to Me” (1996) and the part of Jennifer in “Stranger in My Home” (1997).
Among her latest works are episodes of such series as “Touched by an Angel”, “The Division”, “The Fugitive” and “Philly”. From 2002 to 2003, Veronica appeared in several episodes of the “Third Watch” series, then played Margo Shephard in episodes of the popular “Lost” series from 2004 to 2010. She also played Commissioner Hayes in “Bone Eater” in 2008.
Personal life, ex-husband actor Michael Irving
In 1971, Veronica married her fellow actor Michael Irving; the couple lived together for over 10 years and divorced in 1981. In 1982, Veronica shared that she didn’t feel sorry for being alone at all: “I have a lot of friends. On Sundays we organize tennis tournaments. I have some good friends that I don’t think I could live without – that’s what keeps it all together,” she shared in her interview with people. Michael Irving was one of the co-founders of the Half Moon Theater, which was transformed into the Half Moon Young People’s Theater in 1990. Michael is an accomplished stage and screen actor, having starred in such productions as “Rough Music” and “Apart from George”, as well as in films and series including “Lou Grant” (1977 – 1981), “Personal Services” (1987) and “How To Be” (2008), starring Robert Pattinson and written and directed by his son from his second marriage, Oliver Irving.
35 years ago today in 1984, the cover of #TV Guide recommended #VeronicaHamel and #DanielJTravanti from the NBC police drama #HillStreetBlues. pic.twitter.com/cWZBDnZU7X
— Silver Age Television 📺 (@SilverAgeTV) March 24, 2019
Hobbies, favorite things and interesting facts
Veronica was an avid rider, but she had to give up jumping because she was starring in “Hill Street Blues,” so any injuries could jeopardize the entire show.
In 1972, Veronica and Michael Irving bought the Brentwood home, previously owned by Marilyn Monroe. When the couple started replacing the roof, they discovered a wiretap system and listening devices that covered every room of the house. The most interesting fact was that all those devices weren’t commercially available in the years Marilyn lived in the house, but some experts recognized them as “standard FBI problem.”
Veronica and Michael had to spend over $100,000 to clean their home from the system.
After Michael’s divorce, Veronica rented another house in Brentwood, because she didn’t want to leave the area she loved so much. She admitted she couldn’t afford the house of her dreams because it would cost her about $1 million, but her house was big enough to host parties and barbecues, even for big corporations like the entire cast of “Hill Street Blues.” . ”.
Appearance
Veronica has long, naturally curly dark brown hair and green eyes. She is 1.76 m tall, but her current weight and vital statistics are not available.
Wealth and salary
As of 2020, Veronica’s net worth is reportedly around $4 million. Of course, her annual income depends on her obligations during a given year.
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