Jenilee Harrison was born on June 12, 1958, in Northridge, California, to a large middle-class family. Her father, an aerospace engineer, and her mother, a math teacher, divorced when she was 15 years old. Despite this, she remained close to them and her two older sisters and two younger brothers.
Growing up, Harrison worked part-time as a waitress from the age of 14. Her wholesome good looks helped her win various beauty pageants, including Miss San Fernando Valley, Miss Los Angeles, Miss Hollywood, and Miss Young America. In 1978, she was chosen for the Rams' Embraceable Ewes cheerleading squad, a decision she made to gain exposure in the entertainment industry.
Harrison attended the University of Southern California (USC),where she studied education and paid her way through college with income from TV commercials and modeling. In her senior year, she won the title of Sweetheart of Sigma Chi and graduated in 1980 with a degree in education.
At the age of 21, Harrison was cast in the hit comedy Three's Company, replacing Suzanne Somers. The situation was awkward, as Somers was still on the show but sequestered away from the rest of the cast. Despite this, Harrison continued to work on the show until the end of the year, when Somers was finally let go.
After leaving Three's Company, Harrison appeared in various TV shows and films, including the feature film Tank and the TV miniseries Malibu, alongside Oscar winners James Coburn and Eva Marie Saint. She also landed a role on the popular TV show Dallas, which she played for two years and received a Soap Opera Digest nomination for Best New Actress in a Prime Time Series.
In the following years, Harrison continued to make guest appearances on various TV shows, including Murder, She Wrote and She's the Sheriff. In 1993, she married Bruce Oppenheim, a chiropractor to the stars, and became a stepmother to his twin children with Cybill Shepherd.
Harrison and Oppenheim were married for nearly three decades, until their divorce in 2022. Throughout her career, she has remained dedicated to her craft, taking on various roles in film and television and continuing to work in the entertainment industry.
