Brandis Kemp


Brandis Kemp was an American actress best known for her appearances in Fridays and AfterMASH from the years 1980 to 1985. She then appeared in a wide variety of films and TV shows as a character actress for the remainder of her career.

Early life

She grew up in Palo Alto, California and attended three colleges: San Jose State College, Stanford University and the American Conservatory Theatre. She battled dyslexia throughout her school years. After college she spent a year in Hawaii, then to Oregon where she met future Fridays' cast member and future husband Mark Blankfield at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She then moved to New York for five years. Her first job in New York was teaching speech to policemen and firemen at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. In 1979 she moved to Los Angeles just before Fridays broke.

Theatre

She performed onstage in such productions as Meetin' On The Porch, A Man's A Man, Look Homeward, Angel, Women Behind Bars, Bullshot Crummond, and El Grande de Coca-Cola. She worked with the Stanford Repertory Theatre and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

Fridays

Producers of the TV show caught her performances as part of the Low Moan Spectacular comedy troupe in the plays "Bullshot Crummond" and "El Grande de Coca Cola" and selected her as a member of their new ensemble cast.
In 1980, she developed strong comedic recurring characters such as the "Creative Palm Reader" as well as adding her talents to comedy sketches on many levels. She became the "go to" female cast member because of her flexibility and strong delivery. She co-starred with Mark Blankfield, Jack Burns, Maryedith Burrell, Melanie Chartoff, Larry David, Rich Hall, Bruce Mahler, and Michael Richards. The show lasted two seasons, ending in 1982.

AfterMASH

Producers of the TV show caught her six-month performance in the stage comedy "Women Behind Bars" and liked the character she was playing. She was playing an assistant to the prison matron. It was similar to the Alma Cox character they were creating for the TV show. She started the TV show as an occasionally recurring character but after only four episodes she quickly graduated to a regular cast member because of the popularity of Alma Cox. After the first 13 episodes she appeared in every episode. She appeared with David Ackroyd, Rosalind Chao, William Christopher, Patrick Cranshaw, Jamie Farr, Peter Michael Goetz, Harry Morgan, Anne Pitoniak, and Jay O. Sanders. The show completed its run in 1985.

Death

Kemp died at her home in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles on July 4, 2020 following a struggle with brain cancer and complications from COVID-19. She was 76 years old.

Filmography