Virginia Hawkins

Though she's best-known for her performance as a loyal housemaid on the primetime soap opera "Dynasty," Virginia Hawkins enjoyed many other memorable roles throughout her long career. She broke into TV in the '70s as a kindly floor nurse on the pioneering drama "Medical Center," which won numerous awards for its portrayal of complicated ethical and medical issues, and soon became a regular supporting player on detective series like "Cannon" (precursor of the popular geriatric mystery show "Barnaby Jones") and Angie Dickinson's "Police Woman." She appeared in the TV movie "High Midnight," about one man's quest for revenge against a ruthless narcotics officer, and played the icy secretary of a Hollywood executive in the existential drama "Alex in Wonderland." In 1981, Hawkins was cast on the night-time soap "Dynasty" as Jeanette Robbins, the sweet-natured house servant of the wealthy Carrington family. She portrayed Robbins, a close friend of family matriarch Krystle (Linda Evans), until the series ended in '89, and she later reprised her role in the TV movie "Dynasty: The Reunion."