Biography

Career

Pickett made a major departure from her soap opera image when she played the central role in the 1980 erotic film Jeux de Nuit / Night Games, directed by Roger Vadim. It was a sexually charged role involving numerous nude scenes, however the film went unnoticed and did not boost Pickett's career. In the 1981 mystery/crime drama Margin for Murder, Pickett played the role of Velda, Mike Hammer's (Kevin Dobson) loyal and devoted secretary. She played "Jackie Marler" on the soap opera The Guiding Light from 1976 to 1980, "Vanessa Sarnac" on the ABC weekly TV series Call to Glory from 1984 to 1985, and she appeared on the hospital drama TV series St. Elsewhere from 1986 to 1988. In 1991 she played the part of Addy Mathewson in the TV movie/pilot Plymouth, which at the time was considered to be one of the most expensive such movies ever made.

TV series she has guest-starred on include Riptide, Simon & Simon, Magnum, P.I., L.A. Law, Murder, She Wrote, The Pretender, NYPD Blue, CSI: Miami, Without a Trace, Crossing Jordan and Burn Notice.

Personal life

Pickett was born in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, daughter of Cecil Pickett, a director and drama teacher at the University of Houston. She dated Roger Vadim, who directed her in Night Games. She met Lyman Ward, on the set of Ferris Bueller's Day Off (the actors' characters were husband and wife, the parents of Ferris Bueller), and were married not long after. In 1992, they filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.

Selected filmography

• The Ivory Ape (1980) (TV film)
• Jeux de Nuit / Night Games (1980)
• Circle of Power (1983)
• Call to Glory (1984-1985)
• St. Elsewhere Dr. Carol Novino (50 episodes, 1986-1988)
• Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
• DeepStar Six (1989)
• Crooked Hearts (1991)
• Our Shining Moment (1991)
• Sleepwalkers (1992)
• Son in Law (1993)
• Her Hidden Truth (1995)
• Hate Crime (2005)
• The Village Barbershop (2008)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]