Gretchen Corbett

Gretchen Hoyt Corbett, born on August 13, 1945, is an accomplished American actress and theater director. She gained fame primarily through television roles, notably the character of Beth Davenport on the NBC series The Rockford Files. Despite her fame in television, Corbett has also had an illustrious stage career, appearing in Broadway productions and regional theaters. Born in Portland, Oregon, Corbett is the great-great-granddaughter of Oregon U.S. Senator Henry W. Corbett. Having been exposed to theater early in her life, she developed a love for drama while graduating from the Catlin Gabel School and later studying drama at Carnegie Mellon University. She made her stage debut in a production of Othello at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Over the years, Corbett has demonstrated versatile acting skills on stage in productions like After the Rain, Forty Carats, and Iphigenia in Aulis. She also made her presence felt on the small and big screen, with roles in Out of It, Let's Scare Jessica to Death, Jaws of Satan, Million Dollar Infield, and Otherworld. More recently, Corbett returned to television with roles in shows like Portlandia and Hulu's Shrill. Since the 2000s, Corbett has taken on a new role, serving as the artistic director of the Haven Project, a theater project serving underprivileged children in Portland.