American actress Dana Delany, a graduate of Phillips Academy and Wesleyan University, began making television appearances in the mid-1980s on such programs as Moonlighting and the movie A Winner Never Quits (1986). In 1988, she was cast as Army nurse Lt. Colleen McMurphy in the Vietnam-era TV drama China Beach, which ran until 1990. In her film appearances (Moon Over Parador [1988], Patty Hearst [1988], Light Sleeper [1992]), Delany has leaned toward characters governed by their neuroses and eccentricities. In 1994, Delany began showing up in publicity photos wearing a skimpy leather dominatrix outfit and brandishing a whip. No, she hadn't switched careers: it was all for a much-touted "bondage" comedy/mystery Exit to Eden (from a novel by Ann Rice). When the film showed less than successful results, Delany immediately recovered with a strong portrayal as birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger (whom she closely resembled) in a made-for-cable TV biopic. Dana Delany can thank the restrooms of America for her family's financial security; Delany's grandfather invented the Delany flush valve.
by Hal Erickson
biography
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