Actor Jennifer Runyon, who made her name in the 1980s in the Scott Baio sitcom “Charles In Charge” and her memorable appearance in 1984’s “Ghostbusters,” has died at age 65.
Runyon’s longtime friend, “Bewitched” actor Erin Murphy, announced the news on Sunday on social media, saying that Runyon had died after “a brief battle with cancer.”
Murphy, who wrote that “some people you just know you’ll be friends with before you even meet,” said Runyon was “a special lady.”
Born in Chicago in 1960, Runyon was the daughter of Jim Runyon, a popular radio disc jockey in the city, according to EW.com. In 1980, she moved to New York for a role in the NBC soap opera “Another World” before deciding to try her luck on the West Coast.
“I have been lucky because of the California look. I was nervous when I first started working as an actress that I would be typecast,” she told TV host Merv Griffin in 1984, adding, “everything I have done has been so different, such a stretch for me. And it can only get better.”
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Runyon’s big break came in 1984, when she was cast in “Ghostbusters” and played a college student being tested for ESP opposite Bill Murray.
That same year, she had a role in the college sex comedy “Up The Creek,” and played Gwendolyn Pierce on the first season of “Charles In Charge.”
Runyon also had roles on shows like “The Fall Guy,” “Quantum Leap” and “Magnum P.I.,” before playing Cindy Brady on the 1988 TV-movie, “A Very Brady Christmas.”
In 1991, Runyon married Todd Corman, a collegiate basketball coach who, according to Variety, worked in film and television production in between seasons.
Although she acted for a few more years on shows like “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Murder She Wrote,” she spent most of the next two decades raising her son, Wyatt, and daughter, Bayley, who followed in her show business footsteps.
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Runyon said in a 2016 interview that while she moved away from acting professionally, especially after relocating to Idaho and Oregon, she taught the art in her kids’ schools when they were 10 and 12.
“My hope was, this is a way to enlighten kids, showing them it’s ok to stand up in front of people; anybody can do this,” she said. “I was doing that for many years.”
Bayley Corman, now 20, honored her mother’s memory on Sunday in an Instagram post, writing, “all of the best parts of me came from you.”
Runyon’s co-stars from “Charles In Charge” also honored her memory on social media.
Scott Baio said on X that Runyon was “sweet, kind, and generous,” while Willie Aames called her his “dear dear friend, muse, and encourager,” as well as his “rock” in a lengthy Facebook post.
