Walters was born in San Francisco, California, and was, by several years, the oldest of the eight actors playing the Bradford children, though her character, Joanie Bradford, was the third-oldest child in the family. Walters is six months older than Betty Buckley (born July 3, 1947), who played her character's stepmother. Walters' first screen role was as Sheila Grove in 1973's The Harrad Experiment. Walters made guest appearances on a number of other television series through the 1980s, such as Cheers and Highway to Heaven, as well as on two Eight Is Enough reunion specials, but she has not acted on television since 1993. Walters, as of 1999, lived in Los Angeles, where she worked as an environmentalist.[citation needed] More recently, she has acted in plays in the Southern California area and directed theater productions in Ojai, California, under her married name, Laurie Walters Slade. Walters was later in charge of film acquisitions for a subscription-based film service called Ironweed Films.

Filmography

• 1988The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story — Jane
• Hollywood Beat
• Highway to Heaven
• Lottery! — Harriet Day
• Cheers — Jacqueline Bisset
• 1982Famous T & A — Sheila Grove (archive footage)
• Eight Is Enough — Joannie Bradford
• The Love Boat — Roberta Potter, Laura Rogers
• Medical Story
• 1975Returning Home — Wilma Parish
• 1974Harrad Summer — Sheila Grove
• 1973The Harrad Experiment — Sheila Grove
• 1973Warlock Moon — Jenny Macallister / Ghost Bride
• 1972The People — Karen Diemus
• The Rookies
• Columbo — Helen Ashcroft

Appearances as themselves (1)

• The Mike Douglas Show — Self