Crystal Bernard

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Crystal Bernard
Image:Crystal Bernard at the 1991 Emmy Awards cropped and airbrushed.jpg Bernard at the 1991 Emmy Awards.
Born	September 30 1961 (1961-09-30) (age 47) Garland, Texas

Crystal Bernard (born September 30, 1961) is an American actress and singer, most widely known for her seven-year-long role on the situation comedy Wings.

1 Early life
2 Career
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Early life

Bernard was born in Garland, Texas. She became an amateur entertainer at a young age, singing gospel songs with her older sister Robyn Bernard. One recording of the two that has survived from those years is a song called "The Monkey Song" (an objection to evolution) on Feudin' Fussin' and Frettin'^[1], a recording of a 1972 Thomas Road Baptist Church service led by Jerry Falwell.

Bernard developed her acting and performing abilities at Alley Theatre while growing up in Houston, Texas. She continued her education at Baylor University where she studied acting and international relations.^[2]

[edit] Career

[edit] Television

She got her start in primetime television on the long-running sitcom Happy Days, playing K.C. Cunningham during the show's penultimate season. After various guest appearances on television, she joined the cast of the resurrected syndicated version of the sitcom It's a Living. But she is best known for her role as strong-willed airport lunch-counter operator Helen Chappel Hackett on the sitcom Wings, a role she played for the show's duration (1990-1997).

[edit] Film

Early in her film career she appeared in Young Doctors in Love. She starred in the Roger Corman-produced direct-to-video film Slumber Party Massacre 2.

During the 21st century, her work includes a role in the Independent Spirit Award-winning film Jackpot and a starring role in a religious family film called Welcome to Paradise.

She has also starred in the Hallmark Channel original movies Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus and Meet the Santas.

[edit] Theatre

Bernard has appeared in stage productions since the end of Wings:

In 1999, she was in a Los Angeles production of Crimes of the Heart;
In 2001, she was the final in a series of actresses playing Annie Oakley in a 1999 Marquis Theatre revival of Annie Get Your Gun in 2001^[3], and
In 2005, was in the West Coast premiere of Barbra's Wedding, starring opposite actor/playwright Daniel Stern in a production staged at Falcon Theatre in Burbank, California.^[4]

[edit] Music

In addition to acting, Bernard has a music career as a singer-songwriter. Albums include The Girl Next Door (1996) and Don't Touch Me There (1999). The latter includes a gospel track she recorded with her father, and one sung with country artist Billy Dean.

Bernard did a duet with Peter Cetera called "(I Wanna Take) Forever Tonight", released on Cetera's One Clear Voice album.