An actress best known for her multi-season role as Kelly Gaines-Boyd, the spacey girlfriend and eventual wife of dim-witted bartender Woody Boyd (Woody Harrelson), fair-haired actress Jackie Swanson jump-started her career in her early twenties with a series of small roles in features including Wayne Wang's Slam Dance and Richard Donner's Lethal Weapon (1987). Swanson signed for the Cheers role in 1989 (the program's seventh season) and remained with the series until it folded in May 1993, as did co-star Harrelson; during that time, she was seen on an occasional basis. After Cheers wrapped, Swanson appeared in additional projects from time to time, such as the sci-fi-Western hybrid Oblivion (1994) and its sequel, Backlash: Oblivion 2 (1996). She also made guest appearances on the dramas NYPD Blue and Cold Case through the mid-2000s.
by Nathan Southern
biography
