Jody Jaress
| Jody Jaress | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | JoEllen Schafer |
| Occupation | actress, singer |
| Years active | 1960s to present |
Jody Jaress was born JoEllen Schafer in Southern Illinois. Jaress is an American actress and jazz and blues singer in the Los Angeles, California area. She began studying acting, singing and dancing in the mid 1950s.
Jaress aka JoEllen Schafer born in Ottawa, Illinois is the eldest daughter of Realtor, John William "Bill" Schafer (1923-2017) from Marion, Illinois and Freda Ellen Jones Schafer (1921-2005), formerly of Johnston City, Illinois who was a member of the Business and Professional Women's Association in Southern California. Jaress has two children, a son JC Jaress (married to Anastasia King Jaress), and a daughter Michele Lea Jaress (1967-1998). She divorced Michael F. Jaress, the father of her two children, in 1975.
Jody began her entertainment career over 30 years ago in Michigan and has made a plethora of appearances on stage, film and television. Early in her acting endeavors, she received acclaim at the Will-O-Way Apprentice Theatre (Michigan) for her Command Performance as "Kate" in TAMING OF THE SHREW, requested by Sir Basil Rathbone. Jaress sang, danced and recited verse as a guest on local television ("After Hours") WXYZ-TV, "Bill Kennedy's Showtime", "The Auntie DeeShow", CKLW-TV and radio stations in Detroit, Canada and surrounding areas (1955-1960).
"Divorce Court"(1957) was an early reality-type reinactment television series filmed in Michigan, where Jaress played the very young child of an Estranged Couple. By 1979, Jaress had many legitimate stage performances in her repertoire like, "Peter Pan", "Stage Door", "Of Mice And Men", then performing as a skater, she began her film career in "Skatetown, USA, starring Patrick Swayze in his feature film debut. Also in 1979, she had a small role as a dancer in the film Love at First Bite starring George Hamilton. Shot in Los Angles, "Crisis Counselor"(1982), was another reality based reinactment television series which starred Jaress as Julie, in the episode: Breast Cancer. Gaining career momentum, Jaress appeared as Jane, in director/writer, Joseph Merhi's feature film, "Fresh Kill" with Robert Z'Dar. Jaress did some work as a "stand-in" for Karen Black in the remake of "Invaders From Mars"(1986).
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