Faye Grant

Actress Faye Grant achieved fame in the early 1980s as the star of the popular science fiction miniseries "V" (NBC, 1983), and enjoyed a modest career in features and television in the ensuing decades before the scandal surrounding her 2015 divorce from actor Stephen Collins returned her to the spotlight. Born Faye Elizabeth Yoe on July 16, 1957 in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, Grant began performing as a teenager in local theater, but her decision to pursue acting as a career was opposed by her police officer father, who wanted her to study law. Grant left home at the age of 18, traveling throughout North American and settling in Mexico City for a period before heading for Los Angeles to try her luck in Hollywood. She began landing roles as teenagers in the early '80s and scored a recurring stint as a remedial student taught by reluctant superhero William Katt on "The Greatest American Hero" (ABC, 1981-83). When the series ran its course, Grant worked steadily as a guest on episodic programs, including "Tales of the Gold Monkey" (ABC, 1982). The cliffhanger-like action series starred actor Stephen Collins, who became Grant's husband in 1985. By that time, Grant had achieved the apex of her stardom via the NBC miniseries "V" (1983), which cast her as Julie Parrish, leader of a Los Angeles-based resistance movement against an invading extraterrestrial force. A major critical and ratings hit, "V" spawned a second miniseries, the Emmy-nominated "V: The Final Battle" (NBC, 1984), and the short-lived "V: The Series" (NBC, 1984-85), both with Grant reprising her role from the original miniseries. For the remainder of the 1980s and early 1990s, Grant balanced supporting roles in features like "Internal Affairs" (1991), with Richard Gere, and Broadway roles in "Singin' in the Rain," which earned her a Theatre World Award, and John Guare's "The House of Blue Leaves." Grant's career slowed in the mid- and late 1990s, though she enjoyed a recurring role on "Time of Your Life" (Fox, 1999-2000) and co-starred in the comedy-drama "State of Grace" (Fox Family, 2001-02). After a lengthy period off-screen, Grant made headlines in 2012 when Collins filed for divorce after 27 years of marriage. Their split became more acrimonious in late 2014 when news sources reported that a recording had surfaced that allegedly featured Collins admitting to sexual misconduct involving minors. Collins, who countered that Grant had threatened to release the tape as a means of extorting millions of dollars from the actor, later admitted that he had sexually abused female minors on three separate occasions between 1983 and 1994.