Jennifer Rhodes
# Jennifer Rhodes

Jennifer Rhodes (born Janice Wilson, August 17, 1947) is an American actress.

## Life and career

The daughter of Bennie and Clara Wilson, she was born and grew up in Rosiclare, Illinois and 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.

Rhodes' first credited role was in the 1960s 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 1988, she appeared in the New World Pictures film Heathers as Winona Ryder's mother. 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. She also appeared on the Disney Channel's The Suite Life on Deck.

Rhodes may be best known as Penny "Grams" Halliwell on The WB series Charmed, where she starred as the ghost of the Charmed Ones's grandmother and the tough-as-nails matriarch of the Halliwell clan. Although not a regular she did appear frequently throughout all 8 seasons of the original series.

Her first regular series role was in Nightingales as the character Effie $Gardner.^{:765}$

## 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.

## Filmography

### Film

* Stand Up and Be Counted (1972) - (uncredited)
* Big Rose: Double Trouble (1974, TV Movie)
* The Towering Inferno (1974) - Janet - Secretary (uncredited)
* The Death of Richie (1977, TV Movie) - Elaine
* Red Light in the White House (1977) - Carrie Russell
* Night Creature (1978) - Georgia
* Halloween (1978) - Psych Ward Nurse (uncredited)
* Sketches of a Strangler (1978) - Eileen
* Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (1981, TV Movie) - Press Secretary
* I'm Going to Be Famous (1983)
* Ghost Fever (1986) - Madame St. Esprit
* The Eleventh Commandment (1986)
* Body Count (1987, TV Movie)
* Slumber Party Massacre II (1987) - Mrs. Bates
* Heathers (1988) - Veronica's Mom
* Nightingales (1988, TV Series) - Effie Gardner
* Twenty Dollar Star (1990) - Renee
* Frame-Up II: The Cover-Up (1992) - Brook's Landlady
* Exiled in America (1992) - Sister Mary Catherine
* The Baby Doll Murders (1993) - Mrs. Landers
* There Was a Little Boy (1993, TV Movie) - Dr. Blum
* Doorways (1993, TV Movie) - Mother
* Night of the Demons 2 (1994) - Sister Gloria
* Killing Obsession (1994) - Ella
* Skeletons (1997, TV Movie) - Mrs. Gallway
* The Killers Within (1997) - Hanna
* Cold Case (1997, TV Movie) - Miranda Allison
* Chasing Tchaikovsky (2007) - Mrs. Winnington
* Let the Game Begin (2010) - Hope
* Class (2010, TV Movie) - Judge
* Dispatch (2011) - Mrs. Gordon
* The Lost Medallion: The Adventures of Billy Stone (2013) - Ms. Sally
* Lovesick (2013) - Mother

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1971 | The High Chaparral | Tanea | Episode: "A Man to Match the Land" |
| 1971 | The Bold Ones: The New Doctors | Nurse | Episode: "Close Up" |
| 1973 | Barnaby Jones | 2nd Woman | Episode: "Sunday: Doomsday" |
| 1973 | The New Perry Mason | Dina Landon | Episode: "The Case of the Spurious Spouse" |
| 1978 | James at 15 | Mrs. Phillips | Episode: "Actions Speak Louder" |
| 1978 | Lou Grant | Dr. Roberta Giani | Episode: "Poison" |
| 1979 | The Rockford Files | Jean Martine | Episode: "Just a Coupla Guys" |
| 1979–1982 | Little House on the Prairie | Mrs. Hale / Nurse | 2 episodes |
| 1980–1990 | Knots Landing | Attorney / Chairperson | 3 episodes |
| 1985 | Fame | Joyce Chapman | 3 episodes |
| 1986 | Matlock | Gracie Fielder | Episode: "The Stripper" |
| 1986 | Mike Hammer | Carlie Jameson | Episode: "Dead Pigeon" |
| 1987 | Cagney & Lacey | Adele | Episode: "You've Come a Long Way, Baby" |
| 1987–1988 | L.A. Law | D.D.A. Gylkowski | 2 episodes |
| 1987–1988 | The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd | Andrea Buxbaum | 2 episodes |
| 1988 | CBS Summer Playhouse | Queen Illizi | Episode: "Further Adventures" |
| 1989 | Nightingales | Effie Gardner | 6 episodes |
| 1989 | Quantum Leap | Agnes Stevens | Episode: "Blind Faith" |
| 1990–1991 | Equal Justice | Judge Justice Billings | 4 episodes |
| 1990 | Adam 12 | Mrs. Korowski | Episode: "Neighbors" |
| 1990 | Doogie Howser, M.D. | Dr. Butterworth | Episode: "Car Wars" |
| 1990 | Gabriel's Fire | Connie DiFranco | Episode: "Windows" |
| 1991 | Designing Women | Ms. Tauber | Episode: "The Big Circle" |
| 1991 | Morton & Hayes | Hunt Guest #2 | Episode: "Society Saps" |
| 1991 | Reasonable Doubts | Mrs. Leeds | Episode: "Daddy's Little Girl" |
| 1992 | The Heights | Mrs. Mazelli | Episode: "What Does It Take?" |
| 1992 | Full House | Liz Larson | Episode: "Designing Mothers" |
| 1995 | Red Shoe Diaries | Mom | Episode: "Divorce, Divorce" |
| 1995 | Party of Five | Carolyn Prousky | Episode: "The Trouble with Charlie" |
| 1995 | The Larry Sanders Show | Irene Goodman | Episode: "Hank's Sex Tape" |
| 1996 | ER | Mrs. Henry | Episode: "It's Not Easy Being Greene" |
| 1996 | Wings | Mavis | Episode: "Lynch Party" |
| 1996 | Murphy Brown | Mrs. Crawford | Episode: "Office Politics" |
| 1996 | 3rd Rock from the Sun | Mrs. Sumner | 4 episodes |
| 1997 | High Incident | Gloria | Episode: "Knock, Knock" |
| 1997 | Friends | Mrs. Lynch | Episode: "The One Where They're Going to Party!" |
| 1998 | Family Matters | Blanche Geiss | Episode: "Lost in Space: Part 1" |
| 1998 | Maggie | Owner | Episode: "The Maris Syndrome" |
| 1999–2006 | Charmed | Penny 'Grams' Halliwell | 14 episodes |
| 1999 | Ally McBeal | Gladys Claven | Episode: "Only the Lonely" |
| 1999 | Time of Your Life | Roberta | Episode: "The Time the Truth Was Told" |
| 2001 | Popular | Joanie Salk | Episode: "I Know What You Did Last Spring Break" |
| 2001 | The Agency | Mary Orland | Episode: "Closure" |
| 2002 | The District | Margaret De Sica | Episode: "The Killing Point" |
| 2003 | Boston Public | Claire's Mother | 2 episodes |
| 2006 | Gilmore Girls | Beverly | Episode: "Lorelai's First Cotillion" |
| 2007 | Cold Case | Miranda Allison '07 | Episode: "Devil Music" |
| 2008 | The Young and the Restless | Leilani | 3 episodes |
| 2009 | The Suite Life on Deck | Mrs. McCracken | Episode: "Kitchen Casanova" |
| 2010 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Aunt Nellie Porter | Episode: "Irradiator" |
| 2012 | The Mentalist | Wealthy Woman | Episode: "Red Rover, Red Rover" |
| 2013 | See Dad Run | Rose | Episode: "See Dad Swoon" |
| 2014 | Sean Saves the World | Betty | Episode: "The Wrath of Sean" |
| 2015 | Grey's Anatomy | Jean Dominy | Episode: "I Feel the Earth Move" |
| 2016 | Mary + Jane | Doris | Episode: "420" |
| 2017 | Famous in Love | Letti Devon | Episode: "Some Like It Not" |
| 2017 | Teachers | Mrs. Foley | Episode: "Nightmare on Fillmore Street" |
| 2019 | Grace and Frankie | Cathleen | Episode: "The Pharmacy" |
