Life and career

Chapman was born in Greenville, South Carolina. She is the daughter of retired United States Air Force general Leland C. Shepard Jr.. Her older sister Patty Shepard (born 1945) also worked as an actress. She debuted at the age of 16 in the Spaghetti Western Sette donne per i MacGregor. In 1977 she tested for the role of Pam Ewing on CBS primetime soap opera, Dallas.

Chapman has appeared on several daytime dramas since the mid-1970s. Her first soap role was scheming Natalie Bannon (one of Tom Hughes' many wives) on As the World Turns from 1975-1978. A four-month stint as the mysterious Charlotte Greer on Ryan's Hope in 1983 brought her critical acclaim. Her role had her character as part of a revenge plot against the Ryan family after lying to the press that she was Frank Ryan's ex-wife. She joined the cast of General Hospital the following year as the devious Ginny Blake who was the biological mother of Mike Webber, adopted by Rick and Lesley. After Lesley's "death", Rick and Ginny married in an attempt to share custody and fell in love after Ginny was found to be the killer of D.L. Brock. After that stint ended, she had a brief role on One Life to Live as Sandra Montaigne, a con-artist out to scam ex-boyfriend Jonathan Russell. She was the third former General Hospital actress to play the role of Anjelica Devereaux Curtis on Days of Our Lives, playing that part from 1989-1990 and briefly in 1991.

She made her first appearance on The Young and the Restless after that, briefly subbing for Jess Walton as Jill Abbott. She joined the cast of The Young and the Restless full-time in January 2005, replacing Joan Van Ark in the contract role of Gloria Fisher. In March 2011, it was announced that Chapman had been taken off her contract and bumped to recurring. In October of 2014, it was announced that she would make a guest appearance as Gloria on The Bold and the Beautiful.

Chapman guest starred on the final episode of Galactica 1980. She appeared in two episodes of Magnum, P.I. and three episodes of Murder, She Wrote. Her most recent film role was the mother of Judy (Parker Posey) in the 2002 romantic comedy, The Sweetest Thing.

Filmography

• 1975-78: As the World Turns as Natalie Bannon Hughes
• 1976: Kojak as Gretchen Hodges
• 1977: False Face as Heather/Jane
• 1978: Barnaby Jones as Rita Lockwood
• 1978: Fantasy Island as Evelyn Wallace
• 1979: The Paper Chase as Amelia Hutton
• 1980: B. J. and the Bear as Pamela Gerard
• 1980: Beyond Westworld as Laura Garvey
• 1980: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century as Lara Teasian
• 1980: Galactica 1980 as Angela
• 1980: The Incredible Hulk as Nancy
• 1981: Fitz and Bones as Clementine
• 1981: Magnum, P.I.as Lisa Page/Sara Clifford / Louise DeBolt Jackson (2 episodes)
• 1981: The Love Boat as Nancy Atwell
• 1981-83: The Fall Guy as Kay Faulkner (4 episodes)
• 1982: Darkroom as Pamela
• 1982: Knight Rider as Ms. Elliot
• 1983: Desire as Julie Seaver
• 1983: Ryan's Hope as Charlotte
• 1983: Simon & Simon as Denise Carroll
• 1983: Trapper John, M.D. as Dr. Robin Yaeger
• 1984-86: General Hospital as Ginny Blake Webber
• 1987: One Life to Live as Sandra Montaigne
• 1987: Stingray as Carla
• 1987-92: Murder, She Wrote as (3 episodes)
• 1988: And God Created Woman as Alexandra
• 1988: MacGyver as Dr. Sandra Millhouse
• 1989: In the Heat of the Night as Charlotte Sinclaire
• 1989-91: Days of Our Lives as Anjelica Deveraux
• 1991: Dead Space as Stote
• 1993: Fire on the Amazon as Sandra
• 1994: Night of the Running Man as Roz Chambers
• 1998: Scorpio One as Gibson
• 2000: 28 Days as Deirdre
• 2002: The Sweetest Thing as Judy's Mother
• 2005-: The Young and the Restless as Gloria Abbott Bardwell
• 2013: Liz & Dick as BelasAir Socialite

2014: The Bold and the Beautiful as Gloria Abbott Bardwell

• 2015: Saugatuck Cures as Maggie Callaghan