Barbara Babcock
Barbara Babcock (born February 27, 1937) is an American character actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Grace Gardner on "Hill Street Blues", for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress—Drama Series in 1981, and her role as Dorothy Jennings on "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman", for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1995. Early life. Although she was born in the United States, Babcock spent a large part of her childhood in Tokyo, Japan, where her father, U.S. Army Gen. Conrad Stanton Babcock, Jr., was stationed. She learned  to speak Japanese before English. Babcock studied at Switzerland's University of Lausanne and Italy's University of Milan. She also attended Miss Porter's School and graduated from Wellesley College, where she was a classmate of Ali MacGraw. Career. Babcock's television appearances began in 1956. They included several episodes of the original series of "", although much of her work on the show consisted of uncredited voice roles. In 1968, she made her debut on the big screen in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer western "Day of the Evil Gun", followed by roles in the films "Heaven with a Gun , co-starring Glenn Ford, Bang the Drum Slowly", "Chosen Survivors", "The Black Marble", "Back Roads", "The Lords of Discipline", and "That Was Then... This Is Now". From 1978 to 1982, she played the role of Liz Craig on the CBS soap opera "Dallas". Other notable films include "Heart of Dixie", "Happy Together", "Far and Away" and "Space Cowboys". She also appeared in an episode of "Hogan's Heroes" in 1969. Babcock won the 1981 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress—Drama Series for her work on "Hill Street Blues". She appeared in 16 episodes of the NBC police drama  as Grace Gardner from 1981 to 1986. She starred in the short-lived TV series "The Four Seasons" in 1984, "Mr. Sunshine" in 1986 and "The Law & Harry McGraw" in 1987. From 1993 to 1998, she played the role of Dorothy Jennings on "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1993. (However, the Emmy Awards website lists the nomination for 1995.) She was voted one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World by "People" magazine in 1994. After completion of the show in  1998, she appeared in "The Pretender", "Chicago Hope", "Frasier" and "Judging Amy". From 2001 to 2002, she played the role of the mother of Dana Delany's character in the Fox drama series "Pasadena". Personal life. In 2004, Babcock was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and now resides in Carmel, California. Babcock and actress Susan Bjurman received a patent for a shampoo that they developed.