Actress Veronica Hamel

Ready for another eighties flashback?

Veronica Hamel was considered one of the most beautiful women on American television during that decade.  She played public defender Joyce Davenport on the NBC police drama series "Hill Street Blues."  Joyce the love interest of police captain Frank Furillo (played by Daniel J. Travanti). 

The Philadelphia-born Ms. Hamel started out as a model and even played one in the 1971 movie Klute before making the transition to acting, and almost got the part that went to Jaclyn Smith on "Charlie's Angels."  Joyce Davenport was her biggest role on TV, but it was hardly her only one; she also had recurring roles on "Lost" and the firefighter drama "Third Watch."

Her movie roles include Dr. Kay Hutton in the Alan Alda movie A New Life. She was Alda's character's love interest, repeating the history of her role as Joyce Davenport. :-)  

Fun fact: Veronica Hamel was the last female model to appear in a cigarette TV commercial - for Virginia Slims.  It aired a minute to midnight on New Year's Eve, 1970, as the law banning TV cigarette advertising went into effect on January 1, 1971.