Stevie Vallance

(Redirected from Louise Vallance)

Stephanie Louise Vallance, commonly known as Stevie Vallance, also credited as Louise Vallance during the 1970s–90s, is a Canadian actress, musician, composer and director who has worked on numerous films and television series, both live-action and animated. Vallance is most recognized as Jenny in The Ropers, Det. Stevie Brody in Night Heat, and Whazzat Kangaroo in Zoobilee Zoo. As a director, she received a Daytime Emmy for voice-directing the music and dialogue on the children's animated series Madeline, in which she also portrayed "Miss Clavel" and "Genevive".

Stevie Vallance
Vallance circa. 2000
Born
Stephanie Louise Vallance

September 8, 1958 (age 66)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Other namesLouise Vallance
Stevie Louise Vallance
Occupations
  • Actress
  • musician
  • composer
  • director
Years active1971–present
Musical career
Genres
InstrumentVocals
Websitewww.stevievallance.com Edit this at Wikidata

Early life and career

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Montreal-born, Toronto-raised Stephanie Louise Vallance began work as a professional actress at age eleven. At that time she was discovered by Alan Lund, who cast her in the lead role of "Adele" in the Charlottetown Festival musical production of Jane Eyre, which performed at Toronto's O'Keefe Centre (now the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts).[1] As a teenager, Vallance made numerous television appearances including leading roles on Canadian television networks in King of Kensington; Police Surgeon; The Tommy Hunter Show; Norman Campbell's The Wonder of It All; and A Bird in the House, directed by Allan King.[2][3][4][5][6]

Film and television

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After graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, she moved to Los Angeles, where David Jacobs cast her as "Sylvie" in the first two seasons of Knots Landing (CBS) before ABC asked her to join the second season of The Ropers as "Jenny", the orphaned newspaper ‘boy’ whom Stanley and Helen found living in their attic; with Norman Fell, Audra Lindley, and Jeffrey Tambor.[7]

As an LA-based actor, Vallance guest-starred on multiple network television series including Bosom Buddies, Lou Grant, and L.A. Law. She played Ernest's love interest, "Erma Terradiddle" in the Jim Varney feature film Slam Dunk Ernest. In Three Men and a Baby, she was "Sally", opposite Steve Guttenberg.[8]

In the 80s and 90s, Vallance commuted between Los Angeles and Toronto, starring in many Canadian/US co-productions including Poltergeist: The Legacy, The Outer Limits, F/X: The Series, Cobra, First Wave, Dracula: The Series, Forever Knight, and Road to Avonlea,[7][9][10][11][12][13][14] where she was whisked away on a horse by Christopher Reeve.[1] During that time, she was best known for her role as series regular "Det. Stevie Brody" on the CBS late-night series Night Heat with Scott Hylands, Allan Royal, and Jeff Wincott.[15] She followed that up with a very different sort of role of a pink marsupial named "Whazzat Kangaroo" on the Hallmark series Zoobilee Zoo, filmed entirely in California's San Fernando Valley.[16]

Animation

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Vallance has lent her voice to hundreds of characters on animated television series: ReBoot as "Mouse" and "Rocky Raccoon"; Donkey Kong Country as "Dixie Kong"; Sonic Underground as the singing voice of "Sonia Hedgehog" and both singing and speaking voices of "Mindy LaTour"; Madeline as "Genevieve", "Miss Clavel" and numerous incidental roles; Gadget Boy as the nemesis "Spydra"; InuYasha as "Jinenji's Mother"; Totally Spies! as the computer "G.L.A.D.I.S."; Growing Up Creepie as "Gnat"; Care Bears DIC original Series as "Proud Heart Cat"; and Care Bears: Journey to Joke-a-lot and The Care Bears' Big Wish Movie as "Share Bear"; Care Bears: Adventures in Care-a-Lot as "True Heart Bear"; Dennis the Menace as "Alice Mitchell"; Dinosaucers as "Princess Dei" and "Teryx;[17][18][19] Lady Lovely Locks as "Duchess Ravenwaves" and "Maiden Curly Crown"; Popples as "Party Popple", "Puffball", "Prize" and "Punkity"; Bakugan Battle Brawlers, as "Tigrerra" and "Rabeeder"; Silverwing as "Breeze"; Nilus the Sandman as multiple incidental voices; and Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie as "Yelan Li". Vallance voiced numerous characters on Don Bluth's animated features: Thumbelina and The Pebble and the Penguin; music director Barry Manilow.[20][21]

Vallance (alongside Chalk, Tickner, St. Germain and many others) also dubbed voices on several British cartoons, three of those were Penny Crayon (additional voices), Becky and Barnaby Bear (as Barnaby) and Nellie the Elephant (as Nellie).

Voice direction

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Vallance has voice-directed more than 500 episodes of children's TV, working with children, actors, sports stars and celebrities. She was a recipient of a Daytime Emmy Award in 2002 for casting and voice-directing her first series, the dialogue and music-vocals on 70 episodes of the children's animated series Madeline for the Disney Channel, wherein she also portrayed the voices of "Miss Clavel" and "Genevieve".[22] She then went on to voice-direct Silverwing for Bardel Animation Studios,[23] and Totally Spies! for Teletoon Network, on which she also voiced "G.L.A.D.I.S.".[24][20] In 2007, she was nominated for her third Emmy for casting and voice-producing the Discovery Kids and Mike Young Productions animated series, Growing Up Creepie.[22] On the 9Story series Best Ed, Vallance served as Voice Director on 52 episodes.[24] She then cast and voice-directed the Teletoon Detour pilot Celebutard Nation, which premiered at the 2009 Ottawa International Animation Festival.[25] From 2011 to 2013, Stevie headed back to Los Angeles to cast and voice-direct two animation series for executive producer Bill Schultz: Guess How Much I Love You (Disney Junior);[26] and Seasons 1 and 2 of Wild Grinders (Nicktoons),[27] starring skateboard guru Rob Dyrdek.[28] From 2014 to 2017, Stevie was based in Toronto as the Voice Director on Season 1-2 of Corus/Nelvana's action-adventure series Mysticons.[29]

Teaching

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Vallance teaches actors how to infuse personality into cartoon characters with her brand name Tooned In! Animation Voice-over Workshops.[30][31] The first workshop took place in North Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1995.[31] Since then Vallance has taught children and adults how to do cartoon voice-over in Chicago, New York, Ottawa, Orlando, Miami, Atlanta, Toronto, Phoenix, and Los Angeles.[27][32][33][34][35] In 2009 and 2010, Stevie taught 400 Animators at the Ottawa International Animation Festival.[36] In the fall of 2010, 400 Animation fans participated in her high-energy ‘one-person panel’ seminar at New York Comic Con.[37]

Music

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In 1995, Vallance moved to Bowen Island, British Columbia where she met Michael Creber (piano; k.d. lang). Together in 1998, they recorded Vallance's debut jazz CD Practically Naked.[38] In Vancouver, she sang jazz regularly at The Jazz Cellar and Rossini's, where she performed alongside some of the city's well-known jazz musicians at the time.

For her second CD, Always (A Salute to Patsy Cline), Vallance derived inspiration from her portrayal of Patsy Cline (with whom she shares a birthdate)[38] in Dean Regan's staged production of A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline.[39] Vallance toured western Canada with this production for six years, performing at numerous venues including two runs at the Granville Arts Club in Vancouver and the Alberta Theatre Projects in Calgary.[40][41] Vallance opened for the Calgary Stampede as "Patsy", in 1999.[42]

Motivated by the loss of a close personal friend, Vallance conceived the Divas for Life jazz benefit concerts held in Vancouver, B.C.[43] In addition to producing the first concert at the Vogue Theater, in 2001, she negotiated a national distribution deal for the CD Divas for Life: Live At The Vogue!, which was released and performed as part of the 2001 Vancouver International Jazz Festival line-up.[43][44] On Valentine's Day 2002, she produced Divas for Love.[45] The proceeds of all concerts raised C$70,000 for people living with a life-threatening illness. As a result, Vallance was presented with Vancouver's "Friend in Deed" philanthropy award.[46][47][48]

In 2004, Vallance debuted as a 'Jazz vocalist' in her hometown, Toronto, where she was accompanied by pianist Don Thompson, bassist Neil Swainson, and drummer Ted Warren. She also performed for the first time in her birth town Montréal, at The Upstairs, with jazz pianist Steve Amirault, bassist Zack Lober, and drummer Jim Doxas.[49][50]

Vallance's fourth CD, Make My Night, was released in February 2008. Arranged by guitarist Pat Coleman, it features many other Canadian jazz musicians: pianist Ross Taggart, trumpeter Mike Herriot, saxophonist Tom Colclough, drummer Buff Allen and bassist Miles Hill.[51]

In 2009, Vallance performed in the Medicine Hat Jazz Festival for the second year in a row and was the featured vocalist alongside Ernie Duff and the Stardust Big Band, in and around Saugeen Shores, ON.[38][52] She also sang with the Charlie Bell Trio in the Thornbury and Kincardine Jazz Festivals.[53][54]

In 2010, Vallance organized a 10-concert series, Stevie Vallance & the Masters of Jazz, at the Bruce County Museum in Southampton, ON, presenting a line-up of world-class players who accompanied her as the vocalist for the series: Richard Whiteman (piano), Mike Grace (bass), Kevin Barrett (guitar), Kieran Overs (bass), Ted Warren (drums), Bobby Brough (sax), Rob Clutton (bass), Nancy Walker (piano), Ted Quinlan (guitar), Tim Posgate (guitar) and George Koller (bass).[55][56][57][58][59]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Stevie Vallance: Producer, Director, Actor, Singer". studylib.net. Stevie Vallance. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  2. ^ "Episode Guide for King of Kensington". www.tvarchive.ca. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
  3. ^ "The Paris News from Paris, Texas". Newspapers.com. February 1, 1980. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
  4. ^ "The Wonder Of It All". Event occurs at 1:24:55. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12.
  5. ^ "Articles for Tommy Hunter Show, The". www.tvarchive.ca. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
  6. ^ "Allan King Biography (1930-)". www.filmreference.com. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
  7. ^ a b "Louise Vallance". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
  8. ^ Three Men and a Baby (3 Men and a Baby), retrieved 2017-01-04
  9. ^ "Stevie Vallance TV". www.listal.com. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  10. ^ "F/X: The Series (1996) S1". garnsguides.com. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  11. ^ "First Wave (1998) S1". garnsguides.com. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  12. ^ DoctorSF. "First Wave - Chris Brancato (1998) - Episode guide from season 1". Scifi-Movies. Retrieved 2017-02-01.
  13. ^ "Dracula: The Series (1990) S1". garnsguides.com. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  14. ^ Muir, John Kenneth (2008). Terror Television: American Series, 1970-1999. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-3884-6.
  15. ^ Hylands, Scott; Royal, Allan; Wincott, Jeff; McCann, Sean (1985-01-31), Night Heat, retrieved 2017-01-23
  16. ^ MARGULIES, LEE (1986-12-31). "'Zoo'--will It Pass Syndication Test?". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
  17. ^ Allec, Patrick. "Dinosaucers". www.tvarchive.ca. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
  18. ^ "Cast and credits of Dinosaucers". www.listal.com. Retrieved 2017-02-01.
  19. ^ "Louise Vallance Biography". www.filmreference.com. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
  20. ^ a b "Stevie Vallance". Voice Chasers. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
  21. ^ "Stevie Vallance". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
  22. ^ a b "Louise Vallance - Awards & Nominations". awardsandwinners.com. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
  23. ^ "Stevie Vallance (Voice Director)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  24. ^ a b "Love That VoiceOver with Emmy award winning Stevie Vallance!". BlogTalkRadio. 25 April 2012. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  25. ^ "Actors Connection: New! 2-Day WEEKEND ANIMATION VOICE-OVER WORKSHOP with Stevie Vallance, Emmy Award-winning Voice Director and Casting Director". www.actorsconnection.com. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  26. ^ Vallance, Stevie (2015-01-06), Guess How Much I Love You: Someone Special, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, retrieved 2017-01-24
  27. ^ a b "Get "Tooned In!" Animation Voiceover Acting Workshop with Stevie Vallance". www.sagaftra.org. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  28. ^ "Nicktoons Debuts New Animated Series 'Wild Grinders' from Skateboard Pro Rob Dyrdek on Friday, April 27". TV By The Numbers by zap2it.com. 2012-04-12. Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  29. ^ "alyson court on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  30. ^ "Tooned In!". Stevie Vallance. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
  31. ^ a b "Animation VO Acting Workshop at IDEAS - IDEAS, Media and Experience Design, Orlando, FL". IDEAS, Media and Experience Design, Orlando, FL. 2013-03-21. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  32. ^ "Voice Over Resource Guide - Training". voiceoverresourceguide.com. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  33. ^ "Animation Voice-Over Workshops: Stevie Vallance in Ottawa & Bob Bergen in San Diego". ToonZone News. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  34. ^ "Voice Actor Stevie Vallance Offers "Tooned In!" Voice Actor Workshops in Vancouver, Toronto & Canada". Cartoon Brew. 2011-04-22. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  35. ^ "Tooned In! 1-Day Intensive Animation Acting Workshop". allevents.in. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  36. ^ "Ottawa International Animation Festival". Character Voices. 2010-10-26. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
  37. ^ "NYCC2010: Intro to Animation Voice-Acting with Stevie Vallance - ToonZone News". ToonZone News. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  38. ^ a b c "The Saugeen Times Stevie Vallance, well-known singer-performer has recently moved to Southampton". www.saugeentimes.com. 2009-01-13. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  39. ^ "Patsy Cline Biography". BestCountrySingers.com. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
  40. ^ "History and Archives – Alberta Theatre Projects". atplive.com. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
  41. ^ "Stevie Vallance: Resume" (PDF). February 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  42. ^ "Patsy Jazz comes to the Museum". www.saugeentimes.com. The Saugeen Times. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
  43. ^ a b "The do-good divas". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
  44. ^ "Vancouver Jazz Festival". groups.google.com. Google Groups. May 3, 2001. Retrieved 2017-02-04.
  45. ^ "Chris Wong: In Sync". vancouverjazz.com. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
  46. ^ "Reviews". divasforlife.com. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  47. ^ "Stevie Vallance". CelebrityImages.org. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
  48. ^ "Stevie Vallance receives a Friend In... - Vancouver Friends For Life Society | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2017-01-31.
  49. ^ "The Stevie Vallance Quartet: Ted Quinlan, Ted Warren and Neil Swainson @ The Rex, Toronto". CelebrityImages.org. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  50. ^ Dobbin, Len (2003). "Sheila and Mickey Celebrate #75 (November)". www.vehiculepress.com. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  51. ^ "Stevie Vallance". vancouverjazz.com. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  52. ^ "Jazz Elements: jazz & blues music blog with news, reviews, concerts & more, with a Canadian focus". Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  53. ^ nurun.com. "Jazzmania returns to jazz hotspots in Thornbury..." Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
  54. ^ "Summer Music Festival Schedule in Kincardine". www.saugeentimes.com. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
  55. ^ "Masters of Jazz at Bruce County Museum". www.saugeentimes.com. The Saugeen Times. Retrieved 2017-02-02.
  56. ^ nurun.com. "Kidney foundation to benefit from event". Owen Sound Sun Times. Retrieved 2017-02-04.
  57. ^ nurun.com. "Words and music series marks first anniversary". Owen Sound Sun Times. Retrieved 2017-02-04.
  58. ^ nurun.com. "O'Various exceeding expectations". Owen Sound Sun Times. Retrieved 2017-02-04.
  59. ^ "A Jazz series I produced in 2009-10,... - Stevie Vallance Adventures | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 2022-02-26. Retrieved 2017-02-04.
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