Jennifer Runyon

Runyon was born in Chicago, Illinois, on April 1, 1960, the daughter of radio announcer and disc jockey Jim Runyon, and actress Jane Roberts. She had a half-brother, Scott, from her father's first marriage. Runyon's parents both worked for the radio station WCFL in Chicago.

She grew up in various cities in the United States, as her father's disc jockey career required the family to move frequently. Runyon spent her childhood in Chicago, Cleveland, Ohio, and Boston, Massachusetts.

Runyon made her feature-film debut in the slasher film To All a Goodnight (1980), about a group of school girls stalked by a killer in a Santa Claus costume. Then she was cast in a supporting role as Sally Frame on the soap opera Another World, which she taped in New York from March 1981 until February 1983. She had a small part as a student being given an ESP test by Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters (1984), and starred in Up the Creek also in 1984, the latter of which was filmed over several weeks in Bend, Oregon.

She later appeared on television as Gwendolyn Pierce in the sitcom Charles in Charge (1984-1985), and replaced Susan Olsen as Cindy Brady in the television film A Very Brady Christmas (1988).

In 1988, Runyon played the lead in The In Crowd and was in the pilot of Quantum Leap. She starred in the comedy 18 Again!. She appeared in Murder, She Wrote in an episode, "Seal of the Confessional" (1989) playing the character Kelly Barret alongside Angela Lansbury in the lead role. In 1990 she played a supporting role in the World War II parody A Man Called Sarge, produced by Gene Corman, her father-in-law. She also made a guest appearance on Beverly Hills, 90210 in 1991.

On March 9, 1991, Runyon married Todd Corman, a collegiate basketball coach with stints at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, Albertson College in Caldwell, Idaho, and Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon; he also worked in film and television production during breaks between sports seasons. The couple had a son, Wyatt, and a daughter, Bayley.

In a 2014 interview, Runyon announced that she was semiretired from acting, and instead working as a teacher. She said that she was co-hosting a cooking podcast.

Runyon died of cancer on March 6, 2026, aged 65. Her friend Erin Murphy said that Runyon had a "brief battle" with the disease.

Film

Television