# Veronica Hamel
**Veronica Hamel** (born 1943) is an American actress and former fashion model best known for playing public defender Joyce Davenport on the NBC ensemble police drama *Hill Street Blues* from 1981 to 1987, a role that brought her five consecutive Emmy nominations.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0357557/bio/) • [2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/veronica-hamel) Before acting she spent about a decade as a model with the Eileen Ford agency, and she appeared in the last cigarette commercial ever broadcast on American television.[3](https://www.fandango.com/people/veronica-hamel-268140/biography) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0357557/bio/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0357557/bio/) |
| Signature role | Joyce Davenport, public defender on *Hill Street Blues* (NBC, 1981–1987)[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/veronica-hamel) |
| Emmy nominations | Five, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, 1981 through 1985, all for *Hill Street Blues*[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/veronica-hamel) |
| Modeling career | Discovered by Eileen Ford; about a decade as a model before turning to acting[3](https://www.fandango.com/people/veronica-hamel-268140/biography) |
| Last cigarette ad | Featured in the Virginia Slims commercial that aired January 1, 1971 at 11:59 p.m. EST during *The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson*[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0357557/bio/) |
| Education | Temple University; later a master's degree in film history and criticism from USC[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0357557/bio/) • [4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-09-23-tv-1896-story.html) |
| Marriage | Michael Irving, 1969 to 1979, divorced; no children[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0357557/bio/) |
## Early life and modeling
Hamel was born in 1943. Most reference sources, including IMDb, Fandango, TV Insider and the Associated Press birthday listings, give her birthplace as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, though a 1990 Los Angeles Times profile says she was born in East Orange, New Jersey.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0357557/bio/) • [5](https://apnews.com/article/cd16cfe1a01c2dd65bfac337c6502956) • [4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-09-23-tv-1896-story.html) She attended [Temple University](https://www.edgepedia.org/temple-university) and worked as a secretary before a woman at her firm suggested she try modeling.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0357557/bio/) • [6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-04-12-ca-970-story.html)
She was discovered by Eileen Ford and moved to New York to model. Her decade in the profession included a memorable assignment in Vienna, which she later described in an interview: wearing a wine-velvet designer gown with a sable hem, she asked to keep the dress on and have cocktails after the shoot finished.[3](https://www.fandango.com/people/veronica-hamel-268140/biography) • [7](https://thecliffedge.com/?p=11094) Her place in advertising history came on January 1, 1971, when the final cigarette commercial on American television, a [Virginia Slims](https://www.edgepedia.org/virginia-slims) spot featuring Hamel, aired at 11:59 p.m. EST during a break in *The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0357557/bio/)
In 1972 she and her then husband, Michael Irving, bought [Marilyn Monroe](https://www.edgepedia.org/marilyn-monroe)'s Brentwood house. A contractor they hired to replace the roof discovered a sophisticated eavesdropping and telephone-tapping system covering every room, with components a retired Justice Department official described as "standard FBI issue"; the couple spent $100,000 removing the devices.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0357557/bio/)
## Acting career
**From stage to television.** After studying acting in New York, Hamel appeared in Off-Off Broadway productions and toured in a road company of *Cactus Flower* before settling in Los Angeles in 1975.[3](https://www.fandango.com/people/veronica-hamel-268140/biography) She soon appeared in episodic television, including *The Bob Newhart Show* and *The Rockford Files*, and in telefilms such as *City of Angels* (NBC, 1976). Her profile grew with the role of Helen Thornton in the Emmy-winning *The Gathering* (ABC, 1977) and its 1979 NBC sequel.[3](https://www.fandango.com/people/veronica-hamel-268140/biography) She also declined an offer to play one of the original Angels on *Charlie's Angels* (1976); [Jaclyn Smith](https://www.edgepedia.org/jaclyn-smith) was cast in the part instead.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0357557/bio/)
**Hill Street Blues.** Hamel auditioned for Joyce Davenport shortly after being fired from a St. Louis stage production of *The Rainmaker*, a setback she later said had crushed her confidence; she read for the part, she said, not to get the job but to prove something to herself. Producer [Steven Bochco](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-bochco) later told her she was the 60th actress he had read for the role.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-04-12-ca-970-story.html) An actors' strike delayed the series premiere until 1981, but the debut brought her instant recognition.[3](https://www.fandango.com/people/veronica-hamel-268140/biography)
Davenport, a capable and contentious public defender, was the professional adversary and eventual wife of police captain Frank Furillo ([Daniel J. Travanti](https://www.edgepedia.org/daniel-j-travanti)). Their relationship was the show's primary serial plot, and many episodes ended with the two of them together at night, away from the precinct, reviewing the day's events.[8](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/hill-street-blues) A 1983 UPI profile called Davenport far and away the best-drawn feminine role in series television, contrasting her with what it described as the saints, bitches and victims of the nighttime soaps.[9](https://www.upi.com/amp/Archives/1983/09/28/Scotts-WorldNEWLNHill-Streets-Veronica-Hamel-guards-TVs-best-feminine-roll/9642433569600/) Hamel received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, and 1985; the 1981 award in that category went to her *Hill Street* castmate [Barbara Babcock](https://www.edgepedia.org/barbara-babcock).[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/veronica-hamel) • [10](https://www.televisionacademy.com/awards/nominees-winners/1981/outstanding-lead-actress-in-a-drama-series) During the series she also played Jennifer in the 1981 CBS remake of *Jacqueline Susann's 'Valley of the Dolls'*, working on both productions for ten weeks.[3](https://www.fandango.com/people/veronica-hamel-268140/biography) • [11](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/10/08/Scotts-World-Veronica-Vs-Joyce/9541371361600/)
**After Hill Street.** When the series ended in 1987, Hamel played Judy, Slap Maxwell's girlfriend, opposite [Dabney Coleman](https://www.edgepedia.org/dabney-coleman) on ABC's *The 'Slap' Maxwell Story*, and starred on Broadway in [Neil Simon](https://www.edgepedia.org/neil-simon)'s comedy *Rumors*.[12](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/10/28/taking-a-slap-shot-at-success/e239bcd2-d7b1-4cea-85c0-3077aa1693ea/) • [4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-09-23-tv-1896-story.html) [Alan Alda](https://www.edgepedia.org/alan-alda) cast her as his character's new love interest, a doctor, in the 1988 film *A New Life*, which failed to find an audience.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-04-12-ca-970-story.html) • [3](https://www.fandango.com/people/veronica-hamel-268140/biography) She told the Los Angeles Times in 1990 that she had done very little television since *Hill Street* left the air, saying producers might not make her a first choice once the series was off.[4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-09-23-tv-1896-story.html)
Through the 1990s she became a fixture in television movies, including *The Conviction of Kitty Dodds* (CBS, 1993), *The Shadow of Obsession* (NBC, 1994) and *A Child's Cry for Help* (NBC, 1994), and in 1995 she played [Lily Munster](https://www.edgepedia.org/lily-munster), a role originated by [Yvonne De Carlo](https://www.edgepedia.org/yvonne-de-carlo), in the Fox comedy film *Here Come the Munsters*.[3](https://www.fandango.com/people/veronica-hamel-268140/biography) Her later credits include a recurring role on *Lost* beginning in 2004.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0357557/bio/)
## Legacy
*Hill Street Blues* is widely regarded as a series that revolutionized the television police drama and established the paradigm for the hour-long ensemble drama, and its largely unknown cast, including Hamel, reached star status because of it.[13](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-hill-street-blues-20140504-story.html) Television Academy interview subjects including Steven Bochco, Robert Butler, Dennis Franz and [Dick Wolf](https://www.edgepedia.org/dick-wolf) have discussed her casting and her work as Joyce Davenport.[14](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/people/veronica-hamel)
## References
1. [Veronica Hamel Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0357557/bio/)
2. [Veronica Hamel, Emmy Awards and Nominations, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/veronica-hamel)
3. [Veronica Hamel Biography, Fandango](https://www.fandango.com/people/veronica-hamel-268140/biography)
4. [New Avenues After 'Hill Street', Los Angeles Times, September 23, 1990](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-09-23-tv-1896-story.html)
5. [Celebrity birthdays for the week of Nov. 17-23, Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/cd16cfe1a01c2dd65bfac337c6502956)
6. [Hamel Looks for a New Life on Big Screen, Los Angeles Times, April 12, 1988](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-04-12-ca-970-story.html)
7. [Veronica Hamel: When intelligence matches beauty, The Cliff Edge](https://thecliffedge.com/?p=11094)
8. [Hill Street Blues, Television Academy Interviews](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/hill-street-blues)
9. [Scott's World: 'Hill Street's' Veronica Hamel guards TV's best feminine roll, UPI, September 28, 1983](https://www.upi.com/amp/Archives/1983/09/28/Scotts-WorldNEWLNHill-Streets-Veronica-Hamel-guards-TVs-best-feminine-roll/9642433569600/)
10. [Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series 1981, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/awards/nominees-winners/1981/outstanding-lead-actress-in-a-drama-series)
11. [Scott's World: Veronica Vs. Joyce, UPI, October 8, 1981](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/10/08/Scotts-World-Veronica-Vs-Joyce/9541371361600/)
12. [Taking a 'Slap' Shot at Success, The Washington Post, October 28, 1987](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/10/28/taking-a-slap-shot-at-success/e239bcd2-d7b1-4cea-85c0-3077aa1693ea/)
13. ['Hill Street Blues' paved the way for today's golden era of TV drama, Los Angeles Times, 2014](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-hill-street-blues-20140504-story.html)
14. [Veronica Hamel, Television Academy Interviews](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/people/veronica-hamel)
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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 H to Ha*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 20, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 20, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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