Jane Badler was born on December 31st 1953 in Brooklyn, New York and gained fame as an actress and singer. Badler first appeared on the CULT FACTION radar when she made an appearance on Fantasy Island, but it was as the evil Diana in the NBC’s science fiction miniseries masterpieces V and its follow up V: The Final Battle between 1983–85 that she really made an impact! She also appeared in the V television series that followed. In 2011, Badler also appeared in ABC’s reimagined interpretation of V, again playing an alien named Diana, who this time is the mother of the series’ chief antagonist, Anna. In recent years, Badler has also become an established singer in Australia, where she now lives, and has released three albums.
Whilst Diana remains her most prominent role, Badler also mate noteworthy appearances in the supernatural thriller Covenant alongside Jose Ferrer, and as Meredith Braxton in Falcon Crest. Further guest appearances in Riptide, Hotel, and Murder She Wrote kept her in the public eye before landing the role of Ms. Tania Winthrop in the short-lived series The Highwayman.
Badler’s next major television role saw her travelling to Australia. This was for a 1980’s revival of Mission: Impossible. Her character Shannon Read took over from Casey Randall (Terry Markwell) during season one and remained with the show until its second and final season. Following the series Badler moved to Australian permanently and married businessman Stephen Hains.
From 1992-93 she starred in the Australian game show Cluedo and made a guest appearance in Snowy River: The McGregor Saga in 1995. In March 2010, Badler was cast as the villainous Diana Marshall in the Australian soap opera Neighbours. She had a four-month guest contract with the show and made a big impact in that time!
In 2000 Badler once again focused on her music and returned to cabaret and the stage. In 2005 she appeared in the Magnormos production Archy & Mehitabel which was based on Don Marquis’ poetry books. Appearances followed in The Singing Forest, The Great Gatsby, Rebecca, and her one-woman show Shakin’ the Blues Away – which saw Badler sing prominently.
On June 1st 2008 Badler released her debut album The Devil Has My Double. The album was seen as autobiographical and described as “a compulsive mix of fame, sex and solitude, set to a sweeping soundtrack of cold soul and passionate synthetics.”
Badler released her second album, Tears Again, in 2011 and was nominated for the ‘Best Female Artist’ in the 2011 Age EG Awards for that album: “With it’s tales of betrayal, obsession and the surreal journey of life. It is part electro pop part dark cabaret, releasing a number of successful singles as well as remixes which have been well received by her fan base and critics alike.”
H
er third album Opus was released on September 15, 2014. For her third album, Badler has been travelling the globe looking for interesting and creative producers and collaborations. On this, Jane commented: “I have been lucky to have worked on a track in London with Ivor Guest (Hurricane Grace Jones) Also did a track with mark Saunders in NYC (Cyndi Lauper, Talking Heads, The Cure). I have also worked with Byron St John, as well finishing the album in L.A with the Grammy award winning producer Jeff Bova.”
You can read our exclusive interview with Jane Badler HERE.
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