Lori Saunders Bio, Facts And Family Life Of The American Actress • Wikiace

Lori Saunders is an actress who is widely known for her fabulous role in the 1963 TV show, Petticoat Junction which she appeared in from 1965 to 1970. What else is there to be known about the American actress? Let’s find out…

Lori Saunders Bio

Lori Saunders was born Linda Marie Hines. She was born in Kansas City, Missouri and her birth date is October 4, 1941. Personal information about the actress is very much unavailable and there is nothing known about her parents and siblings. Her horoscope or sun sign is Libra. For her nationality, Lori Sauders is a citizen of the United State of America and her ethnicity is white. Lori’s high school and college education information is also not available.

As can be seen above, Saunders was not born as “Lori Saunders” but as “Linda Marie Hines”. She adopted the name “Linda Saunders” at first but when her paths crossed with her co-star in the 1963 sitcom Petticoat Junction, Linda Kaye Henning who was her friend and also bore the name “Linda”, Saunders changed her own name officially in 1965 from Linda Saunders to Lori Saunders in order to avoid a mix-up by fans.

Career

Lori Saunders’s television career spanned just 20 years. She made her debut in 1960 and retired in 1980. 20 years may seem very small considering her immense talent, but she went on to appear in several commercials after quitting the big screen. She was coached by Jeff Corey who was her mentor and by the age of nineteen, she was ready to launch her acting career.

Her professional debut came when she featured in the TV series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952). Lori appeared on several episodes of the TV show from 1960 until the show was canceled. After that, she worked part-time on the show The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres (1965). But her big break came when she was chosen to replace actress Pat Woodell on the 1963 show Petticoat Junction as the latter went to focused on her music career. This movie launched her career as an American actress and it was an upward trend for her from then on.

She starred in Petticoat Junction as Bobbie Jo Bradley, the studious second daughter of widowed Kate Bradley, who was the manager of the rural Shady Rest Hotel. Her sisters in the show were Linda Kaye Henning, who played the character of her older sister, Betty Jo Bradley, and Meredith MacRae who played Lori’s younger sister, Billie Jo Bradley (a role previously played by Gunilla Hutton). After the show was canceled in 1970, Lori continued her work in The Beverly Hillbillies and featured in the last season (1970-1971) where she portrayed Betty Gordon, who was one of Mr. Drysdale’s (a banker) secretaries.

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Having gained superstardom in the entertainment industry, several movie and TV roles came calling. She became a regular face on the screens, especially for TV commercials. Other TV Shows and films which Lori Saunders featured include Burke’s Law (1963), Blood Bath (1966), A Day at the White House (1972), So Sad About Gloria (1975), to pick just a few of them. She would eventually quit her acting career in 1980 after she featured in the sci-fi movie, Captive (1980).

The three co-stars (Saunders, Henning, and MacRae), now friends also tried to form a singing trio and called themselves The Girls from Petticoat Junction. The trio sang in a number of shows, fairs, and nightclubs. Their only album The Girls from Petticoat Junction: Sixties Sounds contained songs like Thirty Days Hath September, If You Could Only Be Me, among others. Saunders also released two single tracks titled Lonely Christmas and Out of Your Mind.

Lori Saunders’ Family Life

Lori Saunders is married. She found love when she met Bernard Sandler and they were married on January 21, 1961. The couple currently lives in Southern California with their two children Ronald Sandler and Stacy Sandler. Their daughter, Stacy is also married and has given Lori and her husband two grandchildren (actually granddaughters), Amanda and Jaclyn Marie.

Bernard formerly owned Commercial Talent Agency but is now retired while Lori, who has long taken a break from acting is now focused on her other hobbies – art sculpture, photography, and oil painting. She is also involved in many charities and is as well an advocate for children.