- Jeanette Anne Balsis was originally from Glen Burnie, Maryland. This was always a great source of pride for her, and it resulted in her lifelong love of (properly made) crab cakes. She was still a baby when her Air Traffic Controller father was transferred to the West Coast and the family moved to California.
Jeanette fell in love with acting at an early age and was a natural performer. She did some modeling for print catalogs, and she performed in L.A. County's Valley Institute for Musical Theater productions of Oliver and Gypsy at Pierce College.
She attended El Camino Real High School where she was instrumental in the theater department and their productions of The Man Who Came to Dinner, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Carousel, The Crucible, and Twelfth Night. Perhaps most famously, in Can-Can she played the notorious Pistache, owner of the scandalous Parisian nightclub which showcased the risque Can-Can dancers.
Jeanette also was a finalist at Southern California Drama Teachers Association's Festival for her achievement in Group Improv. For a short time after high school she performed in small clubs around town as a cabaret singer.
After graduation from ECR, Jeanette attended CSUN where she studied Political Science, a lifelong interest of hers. She later did a year at UCLA.
After college she managed the esteemed Estelle Harman Actors Workshop in Hollywood for many years, securing a national accreditation for the workshop during her tenure. Jeanette ran the office, took classes, honed her craft, and did what she loved best: acted with her talented colleagues in plays such as La Ronde, Serenading Louie, The Underpants, Emily, and Seascape with Sharks and Dancer. The role of Kathleen that she played in Jeffrey Arbaugh's "Is There Life After Birth" was written expressly for her, and she embodied it to perfection. Later she portrayed Cecily in Charles Marowitz's production or "The Importance of Being Earnest" at the Los Angeles Theatre Center.
Jeanette later applied her considerable talents to the casting world, where she worked with Jeff Gerard, Franny Selkirk and others. Eventually, she worked at MTV as a Casting Director, where she specialized in reality show casting.
Jeanette was a loyal and devoted sister to Kathy, Dorothy, Mary, and Eddie; a loving daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Balsis; an the best, kindest, most faithful, and caring friend to us all.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
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