Jennifer Rhodes



Jennifer Rhodes (born August 17, 1947) is an American actress whose career spans four decades.

Life and career
She was born and grew up in Rosiclare, Illinois, a small town on the Ohio River. She became interested in theater while attending Southern Illinois University and moved to New York City soon after graduating. She studied acting and began getting cast for theatre roles. After marrying Jordan Rhodes she eventually moved to Los Angeles where she stopped acting for a while because she felt, as a stage actress, she didn't know very much about acting for television or movie roles. She eventually auditioned successfully for commercials roles, later moving on to television and film.

Her first credited role was in the 60's television series The High Chaparral as the character Tanea. In 1980, she played a press secretary on a made-for-TV movie about Jackie Kennedy. In 1989 she appeared in the New World Pictures film Heathers as Winona Ryder's mother. Her television resume proved to be quite extensive as she appeared on the following select series: Fame, Matlock, Little House on the Prairie, L.A. Law, Quantum Leap, Knots Landing, Designing Women, Full House, Red Shoe Diaries, Party of Five, ER, Wings, Murphy Brown, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Family Matters, Friends, Popular, The Agency and Boston Public - just to name a few. She also appeared on the Disney Channel's The Suite Life on Deck.

She may be best known as Penny "Grams" Halliwell on The WB series Charmed, where she starred as the spirit of the Charmed Ones' grandmother and the tough-as-nails matriarch of the Halliwell clan. Although not a regular, she was the only actress to have guest-starred in all eight seasons of the series. Her recurring role as "Grams" is her second regular series though, her first being Nightingales as the character Effie Gardner.

Marriage
She married Jordan Rhodes and later moved to Los Angeles from New York City with him. The marriage ended in divorce. She never remarried and has no children.

Film

 * Stand Up and Be Counted (1972)


 * The Towering Inferno (1974)


 * Big Rose: Double Trouble (1974)


 * The Death of Richie (1977)


 * Red Light in the White House (1977)


 * Sketches of a Strangler (1978)


 * Night Creature (1978)


 * Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (1981)


 * I'm Going to Be Famous (1983)


 * The Eleventh Commandment (1986)


 * Body Count (1987)


 * Ghost Fever (1987)


 * Slumber Party Massacre II (1987)


 * Heathers (1988)


 * Nightingales (1988)


 * Twenty Dollar Star (1991)


 * Exiled in America (1992)


 * The Baby Doll Murders (1993)


 * Doorways (1993)


 * There Was a Little Boy (1993)


 * Killing Obsession (1994)


 * Night of the Demons 2 (1994)


 * Frame-Up II: The Cover-Up (1994)


 * The Killers Within (1995)


 * Cold Case (1997)


 * Skeletons (1997)


 * Chasing Tchaikovsky (2007)


 * Let the Game Begin (2010)


 * Class (2010)


 * The Lost Medallion: The Adventures of Billy Stone (2011)


 * Dispatch (2011)


 * Lovesick (2013)

Television

 * The High Chaparral (1 episode, 1971)


 * Barnaby Jones (1 episode, 1973)


 * The New Perry Mason (1 episode, 1973)


 * James at 15 (1 episode, 1978)


 * Lou Grant (1 episode, 1978)


 * The Rockford Files (1 episode, 1979)


 * Little House on the Prairie (2 episodes, 1979-1982)


 * Fame (3 episodes, 1985)


 * Matlock (1 episode, 1986)


 * Mike Hammer (1 episode, 1986)


 * Cagney & Lacey (1 episode, 1987)


 * The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd (2 episodes, 1987-1988)


 * CBS Summer Playhouse (1 episode, 1988)


 * L.A. Law (2 episodes, 1987-1988)


 * Nightingales (13 episodes, 1989)


 * Quantum Leap (1 episode, 1989)


 * Adam 12 (1 episode, 1990)


 * Doogie Howser, M.D. (1 episode, 1990)


 * Knots Landing (3 episodes, 1980-1990)


 * Gabriel's Fire (1 episode, 1990)


 * Designing Women (1 episode, 1991)


 * Equal Justice (4 episodes, 1990-1991)


 * Morton & Hayes (1 episode, 1991)


 * Reasonable Doubts (1 episode, 1991)


 * The Heights (1 episode, 1992)


 * Full House (1 episode, 1992)


 * Red Shoe Diaries (1 episode, 1995)


 * Party of Five (1 episode, 1995)


 * The Larry Sanders Show (1 episode, 1995)


 * ER (1 episode, 1996)


 * Wings (1 episode, 1996)


 * Murphy Brown (1 episode, 1996)


 * 3rd Rock from the Sun (4 episodes, 1996)


 * High Incident (1 episode, 1997)


 * Friends (1 episode, 1997)


 * Family Matters (1 episode, 1998)


 * Ally McBeal (1 episode, 1999)


 * Time of Your Life (1 episode, 1999)


 * Popular (1 episode, 2001)


 * The Agency (1 episode, 2001)


 * The District (1 episode, 2002)


 * Boston Public (2 episodes, 2003)


 * Charmed (14 episodes, 1998-2006)


 * Gilmore Girls (1 episode, 2006)


 * The Young and the Restless (3 episodes, 2008)


 * The Suite Life on Deck (1 episode, 2009)


 * CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (1 episode, 2010)


 * The Mentalist (1 episode, 2012)


 * Grey's Anatomy (Episode 11x15)