Melody Anderson is a Canadian social worker and public speaker specializing in the impact of addiction on families. She is a retired actress, whose most high-profile role was playing Dale Arden in the 1980 adaptation of Flash Gordon.
Education
Anderson graduated from New York University School of Social Work in 1997. That same year, she was the Coordinator of Family Services at Hazelden New York, treating family and friends of substance abusers.Anderson holds a Master of Arts in Psychology from the Graduate Faculty of the New School of Social Research, a Master of Science from Columbia University and a Doctorate in Social Welfare from Yeshiva University. She has also studied criminal justice. Her studies focused on trauma, hypnosis and cognitive and psychoanalytical therapies, and is an expert in trauma-related disorders. She has also taught graduate university courses on substance abuse and other mental health-related areas of study. Anderson founded the first licensed mental health facility and social services agency in the United States focused on the psychological needs of midlife and older women. She has assisted non-profit organizations, corporations and social service government agencies.
Career
She made her debut at age five on a radio show. While doing singing, she also trained as an actress, leading to roles in films and television during the 1970s and 1980s.
Her first national exposure came as a "sweathog" in an episode of Welcome Back, Kotter in 1977. She made numerous guest appearances on television in the 1980s, in series such as Archie Bunker's Place, Battlestar Galactica, Dallas, T. J. Hooker, the pilot episode of The A-Team, and The Fall Guy. She had recurring roles on St. Elsewhere and Jake and the Fatman. She was a cast member of Manimal, and All My Children in the 1990s.
In 1983, Anderson also played the title role in a made-for-TV film called Policewoman Centerfold, in which her character, a divorced police officer, is fired after posing nude for a men's magazine (based loosely on the true story of Springfield, Ohio patrolwoman Barbara Schantz, who was subsequently fired from her job after posing nude in Playboy magazine in the early 1980s). She also starred in the 1986 made for television movie, Beverly Hills Madam. She starred as Edie Adams in the TV film Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter, opposite Jeff Goldblum as Ernie Kovacs. She also played the role of Marylin Monroe in 1993 in Marilyn & Bobby: Her Final Affair , where she shine all her beauty. Her last television appearance was a 1995 guest appearance in the short-lived CBS revival of Burke's Law.
Anderson has made appearances at genre conventions, such as the October 2009 Big Apple Convention in Manhattan.
Social Work
Melody Anderson has been the Coordinator of Family Services at Hazelden New York since 1997. Anderson's reputation for successfully treating family and friends of substance abusers at the internationally recognized center has made her a popular spokesperson for the media. Academy award-winning director Robert Zemeckis asked Anderson to appear in his documentary for Showtime on substance abuse. She has shared her expertise on CBS Morning and The Leon Charney Report on television and is regularly heard on New York City radio.
Anderson has combined her knowledge of treating substance abusers with her successful 15-year career as an actress and writer in Hollywood. Because of her experience and understanding of the specific needs of the film community, she was recently invited to consult on a television movie about women and addiction.
Anderson has lectured locally and internationally on her treatment methods. In 1998, she spoke at the International Council on Alcoholism and Addictions in Malta, sharing with doctors and other health care professionals her epidemiological views of addiction. This point of view holds that addiction stems from biochemical imbalances rather than conscious choice. She has addressed teachers and counselors as well as church and parent's groups. Her topics not only cover substance abuse, but address family issues including "Surviving Your Teenager without Serving Time."
