Chris Weatherhead was born in California, where she was raised in Balboa and Newport Beach alongside her sisters Penny and Janine. The trio would often perform together in Orange County, showcasing their singing talents. At the tender age of nine, Chris had the opportunity to spend a summer in Tokyo, Japan, where she immersed herself in Japanese art, culture, and dance.
Her father, Lee DeWolf Weatherhead, was a World War II hero who flew secret missions in the Pacific, making him a source of inspiration for Chris. She later trained with Brewster Mason of the Royal Shakespeare Company at UC Irvine and continued her education in London. Chris also honed her craft in New York, working with renowned instructors Michael Shurtleff and Warren Robertson.
Chris's professional career took off in 1971 when she became a leading lady in American theatre at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. She married actor Richard Council around the same time and went on to perform in numerous productions across the country, as well as in films and television. Some of her notable roles include a two-year stint as Alicia Van Dine on the ABC soap opera "Edge of Night" and a two-year run as The Wife in James Lapine's Off-Broadway hit "Table Settings" alongside Brent Spiner.
In 1985, Chris relocated to Los Angeles, where she married actor Clarence Felder and continued to work in television and film. She also found time to write and produce recruitment films and public service announcements for Match-Two Prisoner Outreach, a program she was involved with as a volunteer. Chris hosted a radio show, interviewing individuals involved in prison rehabilitation, and directed, co-wrote, and co-starred in the docudrama "All For Liberty", which won nine international film awards.
Chris and her husband Clarence moved to South Carolina in 1995, where she continued to work in the entertainment industry. She directed, co-wrote, and co-starred in the Revolutionary War action-adventure docudrama "All For Liberty", and later directed and co-produced "John Laurens' War", which won seven global film awards. Chris is also the author of the historical novel "Against the Wind, the Rise of Kamehameha The Great", based on her award-winning screenplay "Kumakani".
In recent years, Chris has directed and produced several films, including "Frederick Douglass, No Turning Back" in 2017, "Light for Your Journey" in 2020, "John at Patmos, An Allegory" in 2021, and "The Final Trials of Anne Hutchinson" in 2022. All of her films are available through Bridgestone Multimedia Group/Encourage TV. Chris and her husband Clarence have a daughter, Helen, and grandchildren Nicholas and Caroline, and are great-grandparents to Vivienne Jenkins.
