Claudette Nevins

Claudette Nevins was already a successful Broadway and regional stage actress before she made her film debut in the low-budget Canadian horror film "The Mask," which became famous for its then-novel use of 3-D graphics. In 1970, she landed a major role on the Andy Griffith comedy series "The Headmaster," in which the popular star played the title role of the head of a California private school. Nevins portrayed Margaret Thompson, his devoted wife who also taught at the school, for the entirety of its one-season run. She next lent her voice to the animated series "Return to the Planet of the Apes," based on the landmark 1968 film "Planet of the Apes," and appeared in a small role in the epic mini-series "Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II," about the conflicting relationships of the prominent Jordache family. Nevins portrayed Janet Bouvier Auchincloss, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy's half-sister, in the 1981 TV biopic "Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy" and kept a steady stream of TV and movies appearances through the rest of the decade. She memorably portrayed a sympathetic doctor in the psychological thriller "Sleeping with the Enemy," which starred Julia Roberts as an abused housewife on the run from her psychotic husband, and landed a recurring role as the mother of openly gay social worker Doug Savant on the prime-time serial drama "Melrose Place."