Actress. Born Lanita Rose Agrati in Walnut Creek, California, to Lou A. Agrati and to Mary B. (née Castellino), a children's talent agent. Lanita changed her name to Lani O'Grady after landing the role on the television show Eight is Enough. She began acting at the age of 13 with a role in the television series The High Chaparral. In the early 1970s, she appeared on Harry O and had a role in the 1975 television movie Cage Without a Key. In 1976, she co-starred in Massacre at Central High. The following year, she landed the role of Mary Bradford in the ABC series Eight Is Enough. After the series ended in 1981, Lani had a role in the 1982 television movie The Kid with the Broken Halo starring Gary Coleman. She also reprised the role of Mary Bradford in two Eight Is Enough reunion television movies in 1987 and 1989. After suffering from agoraphobia and memory blackouts in the early 1990s, Lani retired from acting and became a talent agent. She also began taking nonnarcotic medication for a diagnosed brain chemical imbalance. Lani had stated she had suffered from panic attacks since the age of 18 but was not diagnosed with panic disorder until she was 21. She also admitted that she abused prescription drugs and alcohol, including Valium. Lani married three times, all ending in divorce. Her first husband James Gibson Smith, her second husband James F Phalen, and her third and final husband was Eugene Otis. Lani had no children with any of her husbands. Her last acting role was as Mrs. Kramer in the soap opera Days of our Lives in 1990. She died of a drug overdose at her home in Valencia, California, just a week shy of her 47th birthday.
Actress. Born Lanita Rose Agrati in Walnut Creek, California, to Lou A. Agrati and to Mary B. (née Castellino), a children's talent agent. Lanita changed her name to Lani O'Grady after landing the role on the television show Eight is Enough. She began acting at the age of 13 with a role in the television series The High Chaparral. In the early 1970s, she appeared on Harry O and had a role in the 1975 television movie Cage Without a Key. In 1976, she co-starred in Massacre at Central High. The following year, she landed the role of Mary Bradford in the ABC series Eight Is Enough. After the series ended in 1981, Lani had a role in the 1982 television movie The Kid with the Broken Halo starring Gary Coleman. She also reprised the role of Mary Bradford in two Eight Is Enough reunion television movies in 1987 and 1989. After suffering from agoraphobia and memory blackouts in the early 1990s, Lani retired from acting and became a talent agent. She also began taking nonnarcotic medication for a diagnosed brain chemical imbalance. Lani had stated she had suffered from panic attacks since the age of 18 but was not diagnosed with panic disorder until she was 21. She also admitted that she abused prescription drugs and alcohol, including Valium. Lani married three times, all ending in divorce. Her first husband James Gibson Smith, her second husband James F Phalen, and her third and final husband was Eugene Otis. Lani had no children with any of her husbands. Her last acting role was as Mrs. Kramer in the soap opera Days of our Lives in 1990. She died of a drug overdose at her home in Valencia, California, just a week shy of her 47th birthday.
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