35 Gorgeous Photos of a Young and Beautiful Morgan Fairchild in the 1970s and 1980s

Morgan Fairchild (born Patsy Ann McClenny; February 3, 1950) is an American actress. She began acting in the early 1970s and has had roles in several television series since then.

Fairchild’s first acting job was as a double for Faye Dunaway during filming for the film Bonnie and Clyde (1967), particularly in scenes where Bonnie is driving a car because Dunaway could not drive a stick shift. She took her new first name, Morgan, from the David Warner film Morgan - A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966). Fairchild then moved to New York City, where she secured her first credited onscreen role as the maniacal Jennifer Pace in the daytime soap opera Search for Tomorrow (1973–1977). From the mid-1970s, she began to make various appearances on episodic primetime television series such as Kojak, Happy Days, Police Woman, The Bob Newhart Show, and a few episodes of CBS Radio Mystery Theater.

Fairchild played Jenna Wade in the soap opera Dallas for one episode in 1978. The same year, Fairchild made the television film The Initiation of Sarah and also had a recurring role on the sitcom Mork & Mindy.

In 1980, she scored her first regular primetime role as Constance Weldon Carlyle on the soap opera Flamingo Road. Fairchild continued to make guest appearances in a variety of episodic television series such as Hotel; Simon & Simon; Magnum, P.I.; and The Love Boat. She also starred in the theatrical film The Seduction (1982).

In 1984, along with Joan Collins, she co-hosted the ABC-TV special Blondes vs. Brunettes, a one-hour variety show that gently poked fun at popular culture’s blonde vs. brunette rivalry. In that same year, she also co-starred in another primetime soap opera Paper Dolls playing modeling agency owner Racine. In 1985, she joined the cast of the soap opera Falcon Crest, playing the glamorous lawyer Jordan Roberts for a season. She also appeared in the miniseries North and South (1985), and its sequel (1986).

In 1985, Jon Lovitz on Saturday Night Live created the “Tommy Flanagan, The Pathological Liar” character who claimed outlandish achievements for himself, culminating in the grand illusion that his wife was Morgan Fairchild. The obvious remoteness of such a possibility, and its mainstream comic appeal, was testimonial to Fairchild’s broad popularity and desirability.

Here, below is a selection of 35 gorgeous photos of a young and beautiful Morgan Fairchild in the 1970s and 1980s: