# Audrey Landers
**Audrey Landers** is an American actress, singer, songwriter, and producer best known for playing the nightclub singer Afton Cooper on the CBS primetime soap opera *Dallas* and for a decades-long recording career in Europe. Her birth year is reported differently across sources, with 1956 given by Rotten Tomatoes and Apple[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/audrey_landers) • [2](https://snapshot.apple.com/us/person/6621216672) and 1959 given by Encyclopedia.com, NNDB, and AllMusic.[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/landers-audrey-1959) • [4](https://www.nndb.com/people/138/000046000/) • [5](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/audrey-landers-mn0000050921)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Signature role | Afton Cooper on *Dallas*, on and off from 1981 to 1989; 85 episodes listed on IMDb[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0484626/) |
| Revival return | Reprised Afton Cooper in 2 episodes of the TNT *Dallas* revival, 2013–2014[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0484626/) |
| Best-known film | Val Clarke in *A Chorus Line: The Movie* (1985), directed by Richard Attenborough[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0484626/) • [7](https://www.yourobserver.com/news/2012/feb/08/audrey-landers-chorus-girl/) |
| Recording sales | Credited with 10 gold singles, 4 gold albums, and 2 platinum albums from her overseas career[8](https://audrey-landers.com/id30.html); a 1991 Los Angeles Times profile gave 14 gold singles, three gold, and two platinum albums[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-03-02-ca-1597-story.html) |
| Education | Studied music theory at the Juilliard School; majored in psychology at Columbia University/Barnard College[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0484626/) |
| Children's television | Created, co-produced, wrote, and starred in *The Huggabug Club* on PBS, 1995–1999[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/landers-audrey-1959) • [8](https://audrey-landers.com/id30.html) |
| Family business | Works with her mother Ruth Landers, her longtime manager and business partner, including the Landers STAR Collection clothing company[8](https://audrey-landers.com/id30.html) • [10](https://www.suncoastpost.com/great-reading/dallas-star-audrey-landers-shares-hollywood-stories-music-success-why-she-chose-sarasota-as-home-3/) |
## Early life and start in show business
Landers grew up in Valley Cottage, a small town in Rockland County just north of New York City. Her mother, Ruth Landers, was a model, an actress, and a printing company owner, and managed both Audrey and her younger sister Judy[10](https://www.suncoastpost.com/great-reading/dallas-star-audrey-landers-shares-hollywood-stories-music-success-why-she-chose-sarasota-as-home-3/) • [3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/landers-audrey-1959). Audrey began acting and singing as a child, appearing in a commercial with her mother at age three and performing in school plays and community theater[11](https://plasticretro.blogspot.com/2014/06/interview-with-audrey-landers.html).
She ran a double life as a performer and a student, attending the [Juilliard School](https://www.edgepedia.org/juilliard-school) and later majoring in psychology at Columbia University[10](https://www.suncoastpost.com/great-reading/dallas-star-audrey-landers-shares-hollywood-stories-music-success-why-she-chose-sarasota-as-home-3/). At 16, in 1972, she landed the role of Joanna Morrison on the CBS daytime soap *The Secret Storm*, a character who sang and played guitar; the part led to a recording contract[10](https://www.suncoastpost.com/great-reading/dallas-star-audrey-landers-shares-hollywood-stories-music-success-why-she-chose-sarasota-as-home-3/) • [3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/landers-audrey-1959). Through her teens she also appeared as Heather Lawrence on the ABC soap *Somerset* (1974–1976)[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/landers-audrey-1959).
Her first song, "The Apple Don't Fall Far from the Tree," written at 12 about a pregnant girl afraid her child would turn out like her father, was considered too shocking for *The Merv Griffin Show*, where she instead performed "New World in the Morning"[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-03-02-ca-1597-story.html). She released it as her first single in 1978[10](https://www.suncoastpost.com/great-reading/dallas-star-audrey-landers-shares-hollywood-stories-music-success-why-she-chose-sarasota-as-home-3/).
## Dallas
Landers auditioned in 1981 for what she expected to be a two-episode guest spot on *Dallas* and stayed on the show for eight years as Afton Cooper, a singer in love with Cliff Barnes ([Ken Kercheval](https://www.edgepedia.org/ken-kercheval))[10](https://www.suncoastpost.com/great-reading/dallas-star-audrey-landers-shares-hollywood-stories-music-success-why-she-chose-sarasota-as-home-3/). The producers wrote the singing into the character because Landers herself sang and wrote songs, and she composed all the songs Afton performed on the series[12](https://talesfromtelevision.blogspot.com/2013/01/audrey-landers-returns-to-dallas.html) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0484626/).
She appeared in 85 episodes of the original run on IMDb's listing, from 1981 through 1989, and returned as Afton in the 1996 CBS reunion movie *Dallas: J.R. Returns*[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0484626/) • [3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/landers-audrey-1959). In the 2012–2014 TNT revival, the finale of the first season revealed that Christopher Ewing's wife Rebecca Sutter was actually Pamela Rebecca Barnes, the daughter of Cliff Barnes and Afton Cooper; Landers, who had not been told in advance and learned of the twist along with viewers, came back for two episodes in 2013–2014[13](https://www.tvguide.com/news/dallas-audrey-landers-rebecca-1052480/) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0484626/). During the show's peak she recalled that it was the number one show in 110 countries and that fans camped outside her hotel[10](https://www.suncoastpost.com/great-reading/dallas-star-audrey-landers-shares-hollywood-stories-music-success-why-she-chose-sarasota-as-home-3/).
## A Chorus Line
In 1985 Landers played Val Clarke, the role singing "Dance: Ten, Looks: Three," in [Richard Attenborough](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-attenborough)'s film version of the Broadway musical *[A Chorus Line](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-chorus-line-film)*, acting opposite [Michael Douglas](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-douglas)[7](https://www.yourobserver.com/news/2012/feb/08/audrey-landers-chorus-girl/) • [3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/landers-audrey-1959). She was not a dancer and had never seen the show on Broadway, but auditioned anyway and was cast after singing the number for Attenborough[7](https://www.yourobserver.com/news/2012/feb/08/audrey-landers-chorus-girl/). She kept the pink bikini from her number and auctioned it in 2012 at a fundraiser for the Players Theatre[7](https://www.yourobserver.com/news/2012/feb/08/audrey-landers-chorus-girl/).
## Recording career in Europe
Landers concentrated her music career in Europe, where she said she was accepted as a musician in a way the American recording industry did not extend to actresses[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-03-02-ca-1597-story.html). Her tenure on *Dallas*, in which she played a singer, helped launch that career[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-03-02-ca-1597-story.html). Hits included "Manuel Goodbye" and "Playa Blanca," which became evergreens re-recorded by artists in many countries[8](https://audrey-landers.com/id30.html) • [11](https://plasticretro.blogspot.com/2014/06/interview-with-audrey-landers.html). Albums listed in her discography include *Wo Der Südwind Weht* (1984, Ariola), *Rose der Prärie* (1995), *Best of Audrey Landers* (2000, BMG International), and *Spuren Eines Sommers* (2005, ZYX Music)[5](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/audrey-landers-mn0000050921).
The sales figures she cites vary by source and time: her website and IMDb credit her with 10 gold singles, 4 gold albums, and 2 platinum albums, while the 1991 Los Angeles Times profile reported 14 gold singles, three gold, and two platinum albums in Europe[8](https://audrey-landers.com/id30.html) • [9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-03-02-ca-1597-story.html). She has continued to record and perform for European audiences and has headlined concerts with [Billy Crystal](https://www.edgepedia.org/billy-crystal), Glen Campbell, Bob Hope, Rich Little, and Tom Jones[8](https://audrey-landers.com/id30.html).
## Production, children's television, and later work
With her mother Ruth, Landers co-produced feature films released by MGM and Paramount, including *Ghost Writer*, *Club Fed*, *California Casanova*, and *Circus Island*, the last of which she also wrote and directed[8](https://audrey-landers.com/id30.html). She created *The Huggabug Club*, an award-winning musical educational children's series on PBS in which she starred as Miss Audrey from 1995 to 1999, writing and co-producing its 48 half-hour episodes and more than 250 original songs[3](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/landers-audrey-1959) • [14](https://www.broadwayworld.com/sarasota/article/BWW-Interview-Audrey-Landers-of-FROM-DALLAS-WITH-LOVE-at-Sarasota-Pops-20180208). Touring that PBS show is how she came to [Sarasota, Florida](https://www.edgepedia.org/sarasota-florida), where she and her family settled[10](https://www.suncoastpost.com/great-reading/dallas-star-audrey-landers-shares-hollywood-stories-music-success-why-she-chose-sarasota-as-home-3/).
Her screen work continued into the 2000s and 2010s with a recurring role as Veronica on *Burn Notice* (2007–2008, 4 episodes) and roles in television movies such as *Love at Sea* (2018) and *Cloudy with a Chance of Christmas* (2022)[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0484626/). She and her son Daniel Landers, a composer and songwriter, are collaborating on a pop musical for film and stage[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0484626/) • [14](https://www.broadwayworld.com/sarasota/article/BWW-Interview-Audrey-Landers-of-FROM-DALLAS-WITH-LOVE-at-Sarasota-Pops-20180208). With Ruth she also runs the Landers STAR Collection, a women's clothing and accessories company sold through channels including HSE Munich, QVC UK, Italy, and France[8](https://audrey-landers.com/id30.html).
## Personal life
Landers married the businessman Donal Berkowitz in 1988, and their twin sons Adam and Daniel were born in 1993 through in vitro fertilization[4](https://www.nndb.com/people/138/000046000/). She and her sister Judy posed together for a clothed, non-nude cover pictorial in the January 1983 issue of *Playboy*, declining payment in exchange for full photo approval[15](https://www.chud.com/73311/olivers-twists-audrey-and-judy-landers/) • [10](https://www.suncoastpost.com/great-reading/dallas-star-audrey-landers-shares-hollywood-stories-music-success-why-she-chose-sarasota-as-home-3/). Through their mother's management, the sisters were a fixture of 1980s television, with guest spots on shows including *The Love Boat*, *Fantasy Island*, *The Dukes of Hazzard*, *Charlie's Angels*, *Murder, She Wrote*, and *MacGyver*[15](https://www.chud.com/73311/olivers-twists-audrey-and-judy-landers/) • [16](https://www.metacritic.com/person/audrey-landers/).
## References
1. [Audrey Landers, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/audrey_landers)
2. [Audrey Landers, Apple Snapshot](https://snapshot.apple.com/us/person/6621216672)
3. [Landers, Audrey 1959–, Encyclopedia.com (Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television)](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/landers-audrey-1959)
4. [Audrey Landers, NNDB](https://www.nndb.com/people/138/000046000/)
5. [Audrey Landers biography and discography, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/audrey-landers-mn0000050921)
6. [Audrey Landers, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0484626/)
7. [Audrey Landers: A chorus girl, Your Observer (2012)](https://www.yourobserver.com/news/2012/feb/08/audrey-landers-chorus-girl/)
8. [About Audrey Landers, official website](https://audrey-landers.com/id30.html)
9. [Actress Audrey Landers Always Dreamed of Being a Torch Singer, Los Angeles Times (1991)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-03-02-ca-1597-story.html)
10. [Dallas Star Audrey Landers Shares Hollywood Stories, Music Success & Why She Chose Sarasota as Home, The Suncoast Post (2026)](https://www.suncoastpost.com/great-reading/dallas-star-audrey-landers-shares-hollywood-stories-music-success-why-she-chose-sarasota-as-home-3/)
11. [Interview: Dallas star Audrey Landers, Plastic Retro (2014)](https://plasticretro.blogspot.com/2014/06/interview-with-audrey-landers.html)
12. [Tales From Television: Audrey Landers Returns to Dallas](https://talesfromtelevision.blogspot.com/2013/01/audrey-landers-returns-to-dallas.html)
13. [Keck's Exclusives: Dallas Vet Audrey Landers Says Rebecca Needs Her Mother, TV Guide Magazine (2012)](https://www.tvguide.com/news/dallas-audrey-landers-rebecca-1052480/)
14. [BWW Interview: Audrey Landers of FROM DALLAS WITH LOVE at Sarasota Pops, BroadwayWorld (2018)](https://www.broadwayworld.com/sarasota/article/BWW-Interview-Audrey-Landers-of-FROM-DALLAS-WITH-LOVE-at-Sarasota-Pops-20180208)
15. [Oliver's Twists: Audrey and Judy Landers, CHUD.com](https://www.chud.com/73311/olivers-twists-audrey-and-judy-landers/)
16. [Audrey Landers career overview, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/person/audrey-landers/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Ki to La*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license