Lois Chiles

• Name — Lois Chiles • Birth Name — Lois Cleveland Chiles • Born — 15 April 1947 • Birthplace — Houston, Texas, U.S. • Occupation — Actress, model • Years Active — 1972–2006, 2024–present • Relatives — Eddie Chiles (uncle)

Chiles was born in Houston, the daughter of Marion Clay Chiles and Barbara Wayne Kirkland Chiles. Her paternal uncle was oil tycoon and Texas Rangers owner Eddie Chiles.. Her brother, Clay Kirkland Chiles, died in 1979. Her only other brother, William Edmonds Chiles, retired as president and CEO of Bristow Group, Inc. She was raised in Alice, Texas. Chiles studied at the University of Texas at Austin and the former Finch College in New York City, where she was discovered by a Glamour editor looking for a young woman to feature on the cover of the magazine's annual college issue. She landed the job and soon had contracts with Wilhelmina Models in New York and Elite Models in Paris. Later, she studied acting under Roy London and Sandy Meisner, among many others. In her New York years, she befriended Tennessee Williams, Andy Warhol, Maureen Stapleton, and models Patty Hanson and Grace Jones. Chiles moved from New York to Los Angeles around 1978 to focus only on acting, leaving her modeling career behind. During this time, she lost her younger brother to cancer. Clay Chiles was 25 when he died in 1978 at M.D. Anderson of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Her brother's death affected Chiles deeply. Chiles dated Eagles founding member, musician Don Henley, but their relationship eventually ended. Later for a time, she dated William S. Paley. In 2005, she married money manager Richard Gilder. They were both honorary co-chairs of Northfield Mount Hermon, a school in Massachusetts. Gilder donated money to the school and they named the Chiles Theater after her. Gilder died in 2020.

Chiles enjoyed a successful modeling career in the early 1970s. After her role in the 1972 blaxploitation film Together for Days opposite Clifton Davis, Chiles appeared in supporting roles in some of the biggest films of the 1970s. She played the college girlfriend of Robert Redford in the 1973 studio release The Way We Were. She was then cast as Jordan Baker in The Great Gatsby (1974) alongside Mia Farrow and, once again, Redford. She again shared the screen with Farrow in the Agatha Christie adaptation Death on the Nile (1978). She also appeared in a small but key role in the thriller Coma (1978). In her most famous role as NASA astronaut, scientist, and Bond girl Dr. Holly Goodhead, Chiles appeared opposite Roger Moore in Moonraker (1979). Chiles had initially been approached to star in the previous Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, but she declined the role because she was taking a break from acting at the time. She appeared in the music video for the Tony Powers song Odyssey in 1982. Chiles lost her youngest brother to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1978, which contributed to her decision to take a three-year hiatus from acting. The time away took a toll on her film career, and she struggled to find roles of the caliber she previously enjoyed. Still, she appeared as a season-long guest star in the 1982–1983 season of television's Dallas, playing independent oil heiress Holly Harwood who becomes entangled with Bobby and J.R. Ewing. Her film roles were smaller, though film critic Pauline Kael gave her good notices for her performances in Alan Alda's Sweet Liberty (1986) and her portrayal of reporter Jennifer Mack in James L. Brooks' Broadcast News (1987) was also well received, as was her turn in George A. Romero's horror flick Creepshow 2 in 1987, as a hit-and-run driver. In 1989, she appeared uncredited in a cameo as the estranged mother of Ione Skye's character in Say Anything... (1989). In 1985, she appeared as "Maggie" in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in Los Angeles opposite Terence Knox and directed by Jose Ferrer. She stated that it was a major personal triumph to play the demanding role for her as she was not stage-trained. She has since appeared as a stuffy high-school principal in the 1996 Disney film Wish Upon a Star, and as a frightened cruise passenger in the critically panned Speed 2: Cruise Control in 1997. She made a cameo appearance in the international release of the 1997 Bond spoof Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, though her scene was cut from the United States release. Other episodic television work included guest appearances in series such as Hart to Hart (as a psychotic split-personality model), In the Heat of the Night, Murder, She Wrote, and The Nanny. Later career high points included the indie films Diary of a Hitman (1991) and Curdled (1996). In 2005, friend Quentin Tarantino, with whom she had previously worked on the set of Curdled, recruited her to appear in the two-episode Season 5 finale of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which he wrote and directed. In the spring of 2002, she taught a course in film acting at the University of Houston. Unlike some "Bond girls", Chiles has said that "being a Bond girl is a fun way to be remembered", although she jokes that being asked to sigh "Oh, James" is annoying because "you can't live up to people's fantasies". On other occasions, she stated "I'm proud I'm a Bond Girl. It's not bad at all." Mostly retired from film, she has spent her later years focusing on art and dividing her time between Houston and New York.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1972 — Together for Days — Shelley • 1973 — The Way We Were — Carol Ann • 1974 — The Great Gatsby — Jordan Baker • 1978 — Coma — Nancy Greenly • 1978 — Death on the Nile — Linnet Ridgeway • 1979 — Moonraker — Dr. Holly Goodhead • 1981 — Hart to Hart — Mary Scott / Scottie — TV series, Season 2 (1 episode) • 1982 — Odyssey — Unnamed — Music video for Tony Powers song • 1982–1983 — Dallas — Holly Harwood — TV series, Season 6 (22 episodes) and Season 7 (2 episodes) • 1984 — Raw Courage — Ruth • 1986 — Sweet Liberty — Leslie • 1986 — Dark Mansions — Jessica Drake — TV movie • 1987 — Creepshow 2 — Annie Lansing (segment "The Hitchhiker") • 1987 — Tales from the Hollywood Hills: A Table at Ciro's — Lita Nathan — TV movie • 1987 — Broadcast News — Jennifer Mack • 1989 — Say Anything... — Diane's Mother (uncredited) • 1989 — Twister — Virginia • 1990 — Burning Bridges — Claire Morgan — TV movie • 1990 — In the Eye of the Snake — Claire Anzer—Marc's Mother • 1990 — Murder, She Wrote — Millie Bingham Stafford — TV series, Season 7 (1 episode) • 1991 — Veronica Clare — TV series, Seasons 1 and 2 (1 episode each) • 1991 — Until the End of the World — Elsa Farber • 1991 — Diary of a Hitman — Sheila • 1992 — Obsessed — Louise — TV movie • 1993 — In the Heat of the Night — Muriel Gray — TV series, Season 6 (1 episode) • 1993 — Civil Wars — Alexandra Phelps — TV series, Season 2 (1 episode) • 1993 — Crossroads — Renee — TV series, Season 1 (1 episode) • 1993 — Lush Life — Lucy — TV movie • 1994 — L.A. Law — Camilla Greer — TV series, Season 8 (1 episode) • 1995 — The Babysitter — Bernice Holsten • 1995 — Flipper — Allison Van Rijn — TV series, Season 1 (1 episode) • 1996 — Curdled — Katrina Brandt • 1996 — Wish Upon a Star — Principal Mary Mittermiller — TV movie • 1997 — Bliss — Eva • 1997 — The Nanny — Elaine — TV series, Season 4 (1 episode) • 1997 — Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery — Steamrolled Henchman's Wife (uncredited) • 1997 — Speed 2: Cruise Control — Celeste • 1998 — Black Cat Run — Ada Bronnel • 2000 — Eventual Wife — Susan's Mother — short • 2002 — Any Day Now — Judge — TV series, Season 4 (1 episode) • 2002 — Warning: Parental Advisory — Susan Baker — TV movie • 2005 — CSI: Crime Scene Investigation — Jillian Stokes — TV series, Season 5 (episode: "Grave Danger") • 2006 — Kettle of Fish — Jean