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Denise DuBarry (born Denise DuBarry; March 6, 1956) is an American actress, businesswoman, film producer, and philanthropist. She co-founded Thane International, Inc. a global leader in the direct response industry along with her husband, Bill Hay in 1990. She served as its Chief Creative Officer for 15 years 1990-2005. As an actress, she is best known for her role as nurse Lieutenant Samantha Green in the television show Black Sheep Squadron and her role as Johanna Franklin in the film Being There. Denise was a pioneer in the infomercial industry as a producer of “Play the Piano Overnight” in 1988 which won the Billboard Music Award for Best Music Instruction Video that year and then “Play the Guitar Overnight” which won the 1991 Billboard Music Award for Best Music Instruction. She is also the mother of actress Samantha Lockwood.
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Denise was born in Killeen, Texas at the Fort Hood Army Base to Adrian Pierre DuBarry and Betty Louise King DuBarry. Her parents moved back to Louisiana where they were from so that her father could finish his master’s degree at LSU in Baton Rouge. The family later moved to Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala and Costa Rica where Denise grew up from ages 2 – 10. Denise speaks fluent Spanish. The family moved throughout California eventually settling in Granada Hills, California where Denise went to middle school and high school. A child of divorce and the eldest of five children, at 14 she was charged with looking after her siblings while her mother worked.
Denise is an avid Bikram Yoga practitioner and has been practicing yoga since 1979. She founded and owned Malibu Yoga [1] in 1986 which catered to a celebrity clientele including Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Newton-John, John McEnroe, Kelly Preston, Amy Madigan, Rachel Ward. She gave the studio to her friend Geoffrey Norman in 1990 when she moved to the desert. She is a partner in the Bikram Yoga University Village studio in Palm Desert, California.
1974 - 1979
At the age of 18, DuBarry went to work for her father in his paper export business, DuBarry International and attended acting lessons at night with Milton Katselas and Charles E. Conrad. She landed commercials for Michelob Beer, Chevrolet Camaro and featured extra roles in the kid shows, Magic Mongo, Wonder Woman and an appearance on The Gong Show as beauty contestant “Ms. Hold the Mayo”. She competed in several real beauty contests including Ms. Malibu where she won “Most Photogenic”. She was hired to co-star in a CBS Movie of the Week, Deadman’s Curve. In 1978, she appeared in the Match Game. She also appeared in the Dating Game. DuBarry landed a regular role on the last season of the acclaimed NBC World War II television series, Black Sheep Squadron. She then guest-starred on popular television shows, including CHIPS and several other Movies of the Week including "Fast Friends" with Dick Shawn and David Letterman. She was offered the role of Mandy Pepperidge in the comedy classic, Animal House which she turned down due to a scene where she had to expose her breasts. In 1979, she landed the role of Maria Von Traub on Operation Prime Time’s "Top of the Hill" mini-series playing an Olympic downhill skier starring with Sonny Bono, Wayne Rogers, Elke Sommer, Paula Prentiss and Gary Lockwood. Hal Ashby cast her in a featured role in the 1979 film classic, “Being There "[1] with Peter Sellers and Shirley McLaine. Several years later, Steven Spielberg saw her in the film and had her in to screen test for the part of Wilhelmina Scott for "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom", the part played by Kate Capshaw.
1980–1989
In 1982 DuBarry and Lockwood formed a production company, Xebec Productions and she began writing and fundraising for film development and production, while she continued to act. In 1985, she starred in the cult classic, “Monster in the Closet” [2]. In 1986, she starred in a Sandy Howard production, “Lethal” (aka “KGB, the Secret War”)[3]. In 1987, DuBarry and best friend Deborah Chenoweth partnered to produce “Play the Piano Overnight”[4] which became a huge infomercial success, selling hundreds of thousands of videos.
1990 - 2005
DuBarry met husband Bill Hay through mutual friend Dick Robertson, the then president of Warner Bros. Television Distribution. DuBarry and Hay formed Thane International[2] and produced and distributed “Play the Guitar Overnight” [5] “Playboy’s Secrets to Making Love to the Same Person Forever” shot at the Playboy mansion, [6]“Beat the Recession” and a slew of infomercials. Over the years, Thane International [7] has created several highly successful brands in diverse categories with global marketing and distribution operations that extend to over 100 countries worldwide as is regarded an a global leader in the direct response industry. During her tenure as Chief Creative Officer, she oversaw the marketing campaigns for over 90 products: trademarks, patents, IP rights, product design, marketing, ran the product department and production department, oversaw editors, graphic artists, and producers for infomercials, commercials, print advertising, internet marketing, catalog and live shopping channels. Once she greenlit a project, utilizing Thane's powerful global infrastructure, a product could be distributed worldwide in less than 60 days. She created brand names and strategic marketing initiatives for several top-selling products including: the Orbitrek elliptical glider, California Beauty, Klear Action Whitening Light, and the best-selling drugstore Klear Action Acne Treatment, among others. Her long form infomercials and short form commercials have sold well over $1 billion in products. Hay and DuBarry sold the majority shares of Thane in 1998 to an investment group HIG Capital, in 2002 the company then acquired direct response company Reliant Interactive Media Corp. The majority shareholders bought the company back took it private in 2004, DuBarry left in 2005 but remains a large shareholder. Thane International subsidiaries include Thane Direct. DuBarry was the executive producer of the live awards gala for the annual ERA (Electronic Retailing Association) Convention and Expo in 2001-2003, held in Las Vegas and hosted by comedians Paul Rodriguez and George Wallace.
2005–Present
In 2005, she founded Kaswit, Inc., a direct response marketing company.[8] Current Kaswit projects are: “Pilates Power Gym,” “Don Sullivan’s Secrets to Training the Perfect Dog,” “The Stash ‘N Dash Sash,” and 3 CD set “Cocktails, Dinner and Dessert” with Patricia Welch.Through her production company founded in 2006, Blue Moxie Entertainment, DuBarry produced the feature film, Shoot the Hero[9],which had its World Premiere at the 2010 Palm Springs International Film Festival.[10]
DuBarry became very involved with the local desert community and became president of Palm Springs Women in Film & Television,[11] a non-profit organization whose goal is to empower women in the film and television industry to help advance their careers through networking and mentoring programs. PSWIFT initiatives launched under Denise’s leadership have been the pswift.com site and the psfilmoffice.com site, a virtual film office [12] for the Palm Springs area designed to help bring more film & television production to the Coachella Valley. She fought to get the officially sanctioned “Oscar Night America” gala celebrating the Academy Awards to the Coachella Valley for 2008 and 2009. [13] [14] She serves as a trustee for Olive Crest [15] homes for abused children and in her capacity as Development Chair has developed strategies that have resulted in raising millions of dollars which helped to build 4 residential homes each housing 6 children. [16]. One of the houses, The DuBarry-Hay Family home, was named in her honor. She has served as a board member of the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences [17], the Palm Springs International Film Festival, Women Leaders Forum [18], the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA)[19] and Thane International. She currently serves on the advisory board of the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership (CVEP)[20], serves on the board of the Palm Springs Cultural Center [21] and board/Marketing Committee of the prestigious Marywood/Palm Valley School [22] where she developed the International Guest Student Program. Additionally, she has been honored with a star in Palm Springs, California. Her long time friend, Congresswoman Mary Bono presented Denise with the Desert Diva Award at the Palm Springs Women in Film and Television Broken Glass Awards.[23] [24]. She received the "Woman of Distinction in the Arts" from the American League of Pen Women [25] for her work in the arts and she and husband Bill Hay received an Ernst and Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” award in 1998. The Electronic Retailing Association also recognized Denise’s efforts with a “Volunteer of the Year Award”. She’s been a member at Bel Air Country Club [26] and La Quinta Country Club [27] since 1990. She has served as the La Quinta Country Club House Committee Co-Chair, and currently serves as Chair of the Membership Committee.
Actress [28]
Television/ Movies
Television Series Regular
Television Guest Appearances
Producer
Infomercials
Actress [29]
Producer
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