In fact, it has been over a decade since Brisebois, 24, played Archie Bunker's brainy niece Stephanie on TV, first on All in the Family in 1978 and then on Archie Bunker's Place for five years. Now a singer and songwriter, she is getting raves for her debut album, Arrive All Over You, a mix of alternative rock and soul showcasing her breathy octave-jumping vocals. The reviews (Billboard described her as "all grown up and belting with a vengeance") and the enthusiastic crowds on her recent 17-city tour caught her off-guard. "There's a lot of prejudice toward you if you were on a TV show," she explains. "I expected to just be bashed. I always expect the worst. When something good happens, it surprises me."
Not a surprise is Brisebois's evolution from child star to chanteuse. Growing up in Brooklyn the only child of Frank Brisebois, now a computer teacher in Hollywood, Fla., and Marie, an L.A. movie-studio executive, she was always enchanted by song. "When Danielle was 3," says Marie, "she would listen to Beverly Sills and say, 'Mommy, this is the most beautiful music.' "
At 5, Brisebois began doing voice-overs for commercials. Then after a star turn at 6 as the voice of the girl with the Cocoa-Puffs bird, she became lead soprano in the New York City Opera children's chorus and performed a regular nightclub act, appearing on the same bill as a transvestite named Gypsy. Two years later she was on Broadway, playing the orphan Molly in Annie. And after that, she was offered a part in All in the Family. "As a kid," she says, "there's not a hell of a lot of cooler things you can do than move to California and not have to go to school. It was awesome."
But by the time she was 14, her parents had divorced and CBS had canceled Archie Bunker's Place. Brisebois admits that she "probably missed out on a lot" doing the show. When she graduated from Valley Professional High School (for showbiz kids) at 15, she says, "no one knew each other at the ceremony because most people had taken classes by correspondence."
After a brief stint on Knots Landing, she played Sasha on NBC's soap Days of Our Lives in 1987. Unhappy, though, she gave up her job—and her career—just by not reporting to work one day. "I was watching the show [on an off-day] and was like, 'Yeeewww!' " she says. "They made my hair totally tacky, the clothes were gross, the story lines were disgusting. I was like, 'Oh my God! I've become the kind of person I make fun of.' So I didn't go in [the next day]."
Instead, Brisebois returned to her first passion—music—and immersed herself in songwriting. "I was always doing it, but could never really concentrate on it," she says. "I didn't want to be a singer-slash-actress. I'd rather do one thing well."
Her instinct was right. Last year she landed a multi-album deal with Epic and moved back to New York City. Alone after a six-month relationship with a hair stylist, she shares a modest loft apartment with her two cats and spends most of her days in rehearsal. As for acting, Brisebois is still disgusted with TV ("I think it really numbs your brain") and says only a "great role in a great film" could drag her away from her music.
Absent that, she's quite content to do what she's doing. "Look at those people," she says one day, taking a cab home from work and glancing out the window at people waiting for a bus. "Those are not happy faces. Some people are so miserable they aren't doing what they want to do. At least I'm getting the opportunity. I really don't feel that I've left any loose ends."
JANICE MIN
ALLISON LYNN in New York City
- Contributors:
- Allison Lynn.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
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