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Danica d'Hondt was born in London, England, to an Irish mother and a Belgian father. Initially an actress, she soon discovered a natural talent for theatre directing, a role rarely embraced by women at that time. Her career began at age nine with a film appearance at Shepperton Studios in England. After emigrating to Canada during her school years, she worked in radio, television, and theatre. She graduated high school in Montreal and, following studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, returned to England. There, she performed as a stage actress and appeared in BBC radio and TV dramas. Later, she moved to Toronto, Canada, where she became a CBC-TV game show host and talk show presenter at a young age, interviewing celebrities like Broadway star Gwen Verdon and jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie. She also appeared on television in New York City and performed in summer stock theatre in New York and Illinois. In 1960, she starred alongside comedian Harvey Korman in the film Living Venus, shot in Chicago.
Danica's Hollywood career spanned from 1960 to 1990, during which she starred in B-movies, took supporting roles in major films, and guest-starred on popular TV shows such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964), The Wild Wild West (1965), and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964). She notably declined the role of Ginger in Gilligan's Island (1964).
From 1966 to 1971, she left Hollywood to work as a theatre director in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she also wrote for a magazine, produced educational films, and taught acting at her own school, The Actor's Lab, on Sacramento Street.
Returning to Hollywood in 1971, Danica directed several successful stage productions, worked as a writer and associate producer in film and television, and served as a television journalist, becoming the Consumer and Financial Reporter for the syndicated daytime magazine show Breakaway.
In the 1990s, she relocated to Northern California, where she manages several businesses with her husband and engages in real estate investing. She has published two non-fiction books and is working on several others. Inspired by Dan Brown's success, she plans to write a novel.
Throughout her diverse career, Danica raised six children. She currently resides with her husband on a small farm in the Sierra Foothills, where she writes, teaches, and assists her winemaker husband with their vineyard. The couple also owns Sequoia, a large restaurant and banquet facility in Placerville, California.
