Miami Vice Guest Stars Part 2: Top 10 Actresses

In Part Two of our flashback tour of Miami Vice guest stars, we turn to the ladies. While not as prominent a group as the musicians from Part One, as diverse as the "Others" we'll see in Part 3, or as numerous as the actors in the forthcoming Part 4, there still are some big names here, including three Oscar nominees and two Oscar winners––one of whom went on to become the biggest female star in Hollywood. Can you guess who without scrolling down? Let the games begin!

10. Amanda Plummer
Okay, we're not exactly starting off with a bang. But the top three actresses are the real deal, honest! And, hey, Amanda was Honey Bunny in "Pulp Fiction," so that's something. More importantly for our little exercise, she was legal secretary Lisa Madsen in Season 5's "Fruit of the Poison Tree."

9. Kelly Lynch
In "Roadhouse" she was the Patrick Swayze's girlfriend. In "Drugstore Cowboy," she was Matt Dillon's girlfriend. And more recently in "The L Word," Kelly was ... er, her girlfriend's girlfriend. But before all that, in Miami Vice's "Death and the Lady" from Season 4, Ms. Lynch played two lookalikes, at least one of whom is named Lori Swan and gets murdered.

8. Laura San Giacomo
Another star of rather modest wattage, Laura has had a solid post-Vice career, kicking off with "Sex, Lies and Videotape" back in '89. And remember TV's delightful "Just Shoot Me!"? Uh, me either. Anyway, Ms. San Giacomo portrayed Tania Louis in "Leap of Faith" from Vice's final season. She was among a group of younger cops that were supposed to be part of some kind of ill-conceived spin off series. Guess that didn't work out.

7. Kyra Sedgwick
Kyra holds the distiction of being less than one degree away from Kevin Bacon, having been married to him since 1988. No doubt he was smitten after watching her play Sarah MacPhail in Season 2's "Phil The Shill" episode opposite #1 guest star musician Phil Collins. And since this is my list, I'm giving her extra points for being in "Singles," one of my favorite movies.

6. Rita Moreno
I know what you're thinking. But the woman did win an Oscar. Granted, it was in 1961, and it was for "West Side Story," but still, she has the hardware. And instead of hooker or one of Crockett's girlfriends, she played Congresswoman Madelyn Woods in "Miami Squeeze" from Season 5. As the show isn't called "Miami Virtue," it likely won't surprise you to learn Rita's character was corrupt.

5. Pam Grier
Appearing in three episodes in Seasons 1 and 5, Ms. Grier got to nicely bookend the series playing "Valerie Gordon," Tubbs' old flame from New York. She probably was bummed that her character's name wasn't nearly as cool as some she'd played in the movies, like Coffy, Gozelda, Foxy Brown, or "Ayesa, the Panther Woman."

Valerie comes to the rescue mid-way through the video below, and then again at the end making kissy face with Tubbs.


4. Helena Bonham Carter
Okay, here's the first of three Oscar nominees in a row. Helena showed up in a couple of episodes in Season 3 playing Dr. Theresa Lyons. Sonny actually plans on making her the second Mrs. Crockett, but she has a deep, dark secret. Hint: it starts with "H" and rhymes with "heroine."

She did get her own Jan Hammer-composed theme though. You can hear it in this fan-created montage featuring a very young (and, frankly, not terribly attractive) Bonham Carter and Jan's haunting "Theresa."


3. Annette Benning
Back before "The Grifters," "Bugsy," and the resulting marriage to Warren Beatty, Ms. Bening appeared as Vicky Madden in Season 3's "Red Tape" episode. Honestly don't know how Vicky figured into the plot of someone feeding drug dealers information about upcoming busts, but I do know Crockett and Tubbs teamed up with Lou Diamond Phillips and a another young actor who shall remain nameless until you read the upcoming "Top Guest Star Actors" post. My intensive research also uncovered the fact that in Germany this episode was titled "Sprengstoff", meaning "Blasting Agent." Yes, I like to inform as well as entertain.

2. Melanie Griffith
As far as I know, Melanie is the only actress on the list who was actually married to Sonny in real life. Certainly the only one who was married to him twice. However, Melanie's appearance in the groan-inducingly titled "By Hooker By Crook" episode from Season 3 occurred between their bouts of wedded bliss. Though she did at least get to play his love interest, the socialite/madame Christine von Marburg. Supporting Melanie in her role were other guest "stars" Vanity, George Takei, and Rock n' Wrestling Connection member Captain Lou Albano.

You can see most of them in the poor-quality video below. But at least its been dubbed into Portuguese, which is nice. Also, this is supposedly an "uncut" version that was only on the VHS (remember those?) release, not the cable version or DVD. So some extra shots of Mel and Don ... uh, pretending they're still married. Mostly backs and hands grasping sheets in a suggestive manner.


1. Julia Roberts
Yes, one of this pretty woman's first credits was as "Polly Wheeler" in "Mirror Image," Season 4's cliffhanging season finale. Julia's character is the assistant to a Colombian businessman who, given that this is Miami Vice, is also a drug kingpin. As you may recall, after an explosion on a yacht, Sonny awakes to find he has lost his memory. Because he was undercover at the time, he's told by the bad guys who rescue him that he is Sonny Burnett, notorious drug dealer.

Anyway, here's Sonny "I'm Wearing A Tie So You Know I've Got Identity Issues" Burnett/Crockett and Ms. Roberts. Wow she looks and sounds young. Which, at 21, I guess she was. Then again, in 1988, weren't we all?



Other Guest-Starring Actresses: Penelope Ann Miller, Joan Chen, Eartha Kitt, CCH Pounder, the aforementioned Vanity

Don't miss Part 1: Top Ten Musician Guest Stars