Appearances

Title	Role	Year	Approx. Age
White Dog	unknown	1982	20
Little Darlings	Angel	1980	18
After School Specials 1976-1977	Charlie	1976	14

Kristy McNichol was born in Los Angeles in 1962, and by the age of six was acting in commercials with her brother Jimmy. After their mother Caroline had a chance meeting with the great Desi Arnaz - who was very impressed with her talented children - more substantial roles began to happen quickly for Kristy.

A string of show-case guest appearances on TV dramas led to her being cast as a regular in the short-lived series Apple?s Way (1974-1975). The family drama starred Ronny Cox, and also introduced another up and coming teen star, Vincent Van Patten. Shortly after the demise of that show, came the biggest break of all for young Kristy.

In 1976 she was cast as the introspective tomboy ?Buddy? on the ABC series Family. The show itself was an immediate success with both critics and the public, and Kristy was especially singled out for her portrayal of a young girl who didn?t quite fit with her junior-high-school peers. And in many ways this would be a foreshadowing of Kristy?s personal life as well.

Family would run from 1976 to 1980, and during this time Kristy would be on the cover of teen magazines world-wide. In 1978, in order to get her now-hunky brother Jimmy into some of this limelight, they recorded an album together which produced one hit -- a sugary cover of The Chiffons? ?He?s So Fine?.

But without question, Kristy?s brightest career milestones were her two Best Supporting Actress Emmy wins for her role in Family. These came in 1977 and 1979. So when the series ended in ?79, Kristy was ready to move up and on to films.

First out the gate was 1980?s Little Darlings, co-starring Tatum O?Neal. Here she played opposite sexy new screen sensation Matt Dillon. And though Kristy was praised for her nuanced performance as a tough young teen hiding a very sensitive soul, she was also hurt by one critic?s remark that he was prettier than she.

But Kristy forged on to three more features, and her asking price went up too. By the time she co-starred with Marsha Mason in Only When I Laugh (1981), she was reported to be making a million dollars. This was considered an extraordinarily high fee for an actress of her age. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe for her role as well.

Sadly, Kristy?s next big payday would turn out to be her first professional disaster and the beginnings of a personal nose-dive. The decision was made to pair her up with another pretty boy actor in The Pirate Movie (1982). Christopher Atkins, just dressed after his big splash in The Blue Lagoon (1980), was to be her handsome co-star -- but the pairing was an unmitigated disaster from day one.

It should be mentioned that at the same time Kristy starred in White Dog (1982) a film held from American theaters out of concern for its controversial subject matter. A tough role for her, but if the film had been released it may have held her in public esteem during the disaster of The Pirate Movie.

But after those two box-office debacles, Kristy?s sky-high pay scale did suddenly drop. Then while she was on location for a low budget picture in France , she suffered her first major nervous breakdown. It was now time to stop, and for once, just take care of Kristy.

And what that turned out included a wild-ride relationship with Ina Liberace - niece of the famously flamboyant piano wizard. This gals-gone-wild period played out publicly in places like LA?s infamous gay teen nightclub ?The Odyssey?, and on the sands of the topless lesbian-friendly section of Venice Beach . None of these antics seemed to worry Kristy, as she had already set her sights on an entirely new career -- hairdressing.

To that end, she completed beauty school and went to work in a friend?s Beverly Hills salon. It was a flashy shop whose opening she had backed financially during her glory days on the big screen. But in 1988, the siren song of fame would beckon her once more, and Kristy put down her shears and took the role of an unmarried police detective on the family comedy Empty Nest (1990).

It was a mistake almost from the beginning. Although the show was a solid success, Kristy was not emotionally up to the task. But show biz trooper that she was, she did persevere for four years, until 1994. She was then finally diagnosed as being bi-polar and advised to retire from the stress of television.

Today, she lives quietly, far from the spotlight. Rumor has it that she occasionally teaches drama to high school students. But her private life, somewhere in central California , is just that -- private.