Background
Stafford was born June 5, 1954, in Wilton Manors, Florida, a suburb of Fort
Stafford was born June 5, 1954, in Wilton Manors, Florida, a suburb of Fort
Stafford graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism.
She hosted a syndicated television series called Main Floor (1995–2005), a show about fashion and beauty. Lauderdale, Florida, where she was raised in a Southern Baptist home. She is a Christian. After graduating from Fort
She began her career working as a public relations specialist.
In addition she worked as a model in New York at the Ford Model Agency. Stafford moved to Los Angeles in 1982, where she had her first guest-starring role playing the dual role of Adrienne/Felicia Hunt on the daytime soap opera The Doctors.
She had guest starring roles in shows such asRiptide, Remington Steele, Scarecrow and Mistress King, Who"s the Boss?, Hunter, Quantum Leap, and Magnum, Philippine Islands She played the role for three seasons.
She later starred as Patricia Blake in the short-lived American Broadcasting Company series Sidekicks from 1986 to 1987.
Stafford is best known for her role as Ben Matlock"s assistant Michelle Thomas in the legal drama Matlock, opposite Andy Griffith, from 1987 to 1992, replacing Linda Purl, who left after the first year. Stafford had been a lifelong Griffith fan, since the early 1960s, as a six-year-old girl.
Before she played Michelle, she guest starred on the same show in 1986, where she played a call girl. According to a 2010 interview with the actress on On Screen and Beyond, there was a remarkable onand off-screen relationship between Stafford and Griffith.
She left the show to spend more time with her family, and to also move on to other ventures.
After her departure from Matlock, she became a world-renowned public speaker, traveling to many churches, colleges, universities, women"s group to other businesses. During the 1990s she was the host of Main Floor, which was a talk show that was seen in over forty countries. In 2008 she co-hosted the first season of Love, Marriage and Stinkin" Thinkin alongside Mark Gungor.
Stafford also guest starred in many shows, such as Emergency, Frasier, Babylon 5, Baywatch and The Mentalist.
Stafford is the author of many Christian books, such as: Beauty by the Book: Seeing Yourself as God Sees You. The Wonder of His Love: A Journey into the Heart of God, and her 2006 book, Mothers & Daughters Taking Your Adult Relationship to a Deeper Level.