Allyce Beasley

The only daughter of a bookkeeper and a cartoonist, Alice Tennenberg changed her name to Allyce Beasley before embarking on a film and television acting career. Beasley made guest appearances on several hit television programs throughout the 1980s, including "Taxi" (1982) and "Cheers" (1982) before landing her breakthrough role on the popular primetime drama "Moonlighting" (1985). As Agnes DiPesto, the romantically and poetically inclined receptionist for Blue Moon Detective Agency, Beasley earned two Emmy nominations as well as a Golden Globe nomination. After "Moonlighting" ended in 1989, Beasley found supporting work in films like "Dream with the Fishes" (1997) and the TV adaptation of Stephen King's "The Tommyknockers" (1993). Possessed with a naturally high-pitched, childlike voice, she also launched a second career as a voiceover actress and is best known for her work as the schoolteacher Miss Alordayne Grotkey on the Disney animated children's show "Recess" (1997). From 1997 to 2002 Beasley served as the voice of Playhouse Disney, a morning television programming block aimed at children. She has also provided character voices for the popular role-playing game "Everquest II" (2004), as well as several standalone "Recess" specials. In 2009, Beasley landed a recurring role on the venerable daytime soap opera "As The World Turns" and appeared in a New York staging of the musical "The Drowsy Chaperone."