Stepfanie's distinctive dark curly locks earned her as much fame as her acting skills.
“It looks like I stuck my finger in a socket and never let go,” she told TV Confidential. “It was some crazy looking hair. I look at it now and I just laugh. I won Best Hair in Hollywood two or three years in a row from some hair styling group.”
Stepfanie starred in 130 episodes over six seasons (1984-90), along with two “Hunter” TV movies (2002 & 2003). After the series' sixth season, she left to pursue a music career. Dee Dee was written out of the show by marrying an old flame and moving away from LA.
Dryer, a former NFL defensive lineman with the New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams, was a physically imposing six-foot-seven man who towered over the five-foot-six Stepfanie. She wore heels in most scenes with Dryer and often stood on boxes so that both actors would fit in the shots.
“I couldn't wait to be barefooted or in fluffy slippers [in scenes] because I was always in high heels,” she said.
Classic TV Beauties 1980s Countdown
STEPFANIE HUNTER as Dee Dee McCall in "Hunter"
The sexiest cop on TV since Pepper Anderson (Angie Dickinson) locked up bad guys a decade earlier, Sgt. McCall was Rick Hunter's gorgeous partner on the LAPD. With alluring brown eyes, high cheekbones and a mane of curly dark hair, Stepfanie was a huge hit with male viewers.
Voted by TV Guide readers as one of the most beautiful women in TV in a 1988 poll, part of Stepfanie's beauty could be traced from her mother's Native American heritage.
The role she will be most remembered for was originally written as a woman 15 years older than her at the time. She was 28 when she earned the role of Dee Dee.
“People really responded to the energetic value that Fred and I had on screen with each other,” Stepfanie said of co-star Fred Dryer in an interview with TV Confidential in 2009.
“The only thing that made it different from other police format programs was the relationship between the two characters... the so-called chemistry.”
Starring former football player Dryer as Sgt. Rick Hunter and Stepfanie as Sgt. Dee Dee McCall, “Hunter” initially struggled to get an audience competing against the mega-hit “Dallas” on Friday nights. But executive producer Stephen J. Cannell convinced NBC President Brandon Tartikoff to stick with the show. “Hunter” took a two-month hiatus during its first season, then returned on Saturday night.
The show's ratings were solid (25th, 18th, 17th) but not spectacular during its heyday.
Although “Hunter” flopped with critics – one reviewer called Dryer “a walking cliché in a criminally bad show” – the police drama gained a huge international following, and was shown everywhere from Turkey to Indonesia.
“In Singapore it was just wild,” Stepfanie said, recalling a visit to the country. “I'd find myself running down the street chased by little people.”
.No. 12
A native of Los Angeles, Stepfanie was born to a high-fashion model mother and a classically-trained violinist father. She was classically trained as a mezzo soprano and music has been a large part of her entertainment career.
Stepfanie got her start guest-starring in two episodes of “Starsky and Hutch” in 1977, followed by appearances on “Eight is Enough,” “The Hardy Boy/Nancy Drew Mysteries,” and “Fantasy Island” over the next several years. From 1979-1984, according to her website, Stepfanie guest-starred on 12 TV series.
She recalled her time working on “Vegas.”
“While I was filming that episode I was in the middle of learning 50 songs because I was just joining a country swing band,” she said. “The female lead singer had left and I had to step in. I was [performing] four sets a night five night a week while acting.”
She was working on another pilot about two female private detective when she came home from work one day and found the script for “Hunter” on her doorstep. NBC told her to forgot about the other show and concentrate on “Hunter.”
Stepfanie originally had equal billing as the show was initially called “Hunter and McCall,” but because Cannell already had another “H & M” show, “Hardcastle & McCormick,” the series' title was shortened to “Hunter.”
After “Hunter,” Stepfanie starred in the movies “Coins in a Fountain,” “Twin Sisters,” and “Beyond Suspicion.”
Over the years Stepfanie has showcased her musical talent through numerous venues. She recorded an album, “One Dream,” that was released in 1999; she has written music for several films; and she sang on Bob Hope TV specials.
Due to the success of the “Hunter” TV movies, NBC attempted to bring back the show as a regular series. Five episodes were filmed but never shown. Dryer cited”creative differences” for the network to drop the project.
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