‘Suddenly Susan’ Cast Then & Now: Photos Of Young Brooke Shields, Judd Nelson, & More

By:

Elissa Anderson, Sara Whitman

March 31, 2023 8:28PM EDT

‘Suddenly Susan’ ran for 4 seasons in the late ’90s and had a star-studded cast. See cast transformation photos here.

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Suddenly Susan Cast: Then And Now

Suddenly Susan Cast: Then And Now — ‘Suddenly Susan’ aired on NBC for four seasons between 1996 and 2000 and was a hit. Starring Judd Nelson, Barbara Barrie, David Strickland, Brooke Shields, Kathy Griffin, and Nestor Carbonell (pictured above from left to right), the series followed the ups and downs of working with your brother’s former fiance plus all the other struggles — some hilarious and some unfortunate — that come with everyday life.

Unfortunately, the cast of ‘Suddenly Susan’ endured a real-life struggle together after David, who played Todd Stities, died from suicide in 1999. ‘There’s rarely a minute in any day that I don’t have [David] in my mind,’ Brooke said at the time, per the ‘New York Post’.

Following the show, the cast went on to have incredible careers in film and TV production. (Aside from Barbara Barrie, who was already a huge name when she was cast). Scroll through HollywoodLife’s gallery to see photos of the ‘Suddenly Susan’ cast then and now.

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Brooke Shields

Brooke Shields — Brooke Shields played Susan Keane in ‘Suddenly Susan’, the woman who runs out on her fiance at the alter, only to have her ex’s brother accept her back at the magazine he runs. Brooke, who was born in 1965, has been acting most of her life, and her breakout role is considered as Violet in 1978’s ‘Pretty Baby’, in which she played a child prostitute. ‘Suddenly Susan’ was the actress’ first starring role in a sitcom.

Since then, she has continued working in Hollywood. Some of her biggest projects in the 2000s include ‘Lipstick Jungle’ and 2001’s ‘What Makes a Family’. She is married to director Chris Henchy and has two kids.

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Kathy Griffin

Kathy Griffin — Kathy Griffin, who played Vicki Groener in ‘Suddenly Susan’, continued acting in various TV shows and films following the show. However, she is now most known as an Emmy and Grammy-winning comedian who has led 20 comedy specials on Bravo, HBO, and Comedy Central. She was also the star of Bravo’s reality show, ‘Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List’, which aired between 2005 and 2010.

However, she was canceled in 2017 for a photo she shared that showed her holding a Halloween mask of former President Donald J. Trump’s head covered in fake ketchup as if had been severed. ‘I wasn’t canceled. I was erased,’ she told ‘The New York Times’ of the ordeal. However, she has made her way back into comedy slowly and surely.

Kathy married her second husband, Randy Bick, in 2020 and survived a lung cancer diagnosis in 2021.

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Sherri Shepherd

Sherri Shepherd — Sherri Shepherd played Miranda Charles on the hit series between 1997 and 2000 and enjoyed a fruitful television career following. Some of her most notable projects since ‘Suddeny Susan’ include ‘Less Than Perfect’ (2002 – 2006), ’30 Rock’ (2007 – 2012), and ‘Less Than Perfect’ (2019 -2020).

In 2005, Sherri began her career as a talk show host when she landed a spot on the talk show, ‘The View’, as a member of the panel of ladies. The Emmy-wining host was on the show in Seasons 11 through 17. She launched her own talk show, ‘SHERRI’, in the fall of 2022.

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Judd Nelson

Judd Nelson — Judd Nelson portrayed the character of Jack Richmond in ‘Suddenly Susan’. Before that, he was one of the biggest names in acting after rising to fame thanks to movies such as 1985’s ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’, 1985’s ‘The Breakfast Club’, 1986’s ‘The Transformers: The Movie’, and 1991’s ‘New Jack City’.

In 2019, performed in the play ‘Love Letters’ alongside ‘Twin Peaks’ star Sheryl Lee. He had previously starred in ‘Love Letters’ in 1991 opposite Valerie Bertinelli.

Judd is still acting to this day, but prefers to stay out of the spotlight.

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Nestor Carbonell

Nestor Carbonell — Nestor Carbonell played Luis Rivera on ‘Suddenly Susan’. He has been acting since 1989 and has not stopped since. His most recent notable work includes portraying Richard Alpert in the hit series ‘Lost’, the mayor in ‘The Dark Knight’ and its 2012 sequel, Sheriff Alex Romero in ‘Bates Motel’, and Yanko Flores in ‘The Morning Show’. He has been married to Shannon Kenny since 2001 and has two kids.

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Barbara Barrie

Barbara Barrie — Barbara Barrie portrayed Helen ‘Nana’ Keane in ‘Suddenly Susan’. The Oscar-winning actress has been acting professionally since the 1950s and has more than 100 credits on her IMDb. page. She certainly slowed down her career following the hit NBC series, but has not retired. Here, she is pictured at the opening night of Broadway’s ‘Company’ in Dec. 2021.

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Rob Estes

Rob Estes — Rob Estes joined the cast of ‘Suddenly Susan’ in 1999 and played ‘Oliver Browne’. His biggest project following ‘Suddenly Susan’ was playing Harry Wilson on ‘90210’ between 2008 and 2010.

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Andre Bendewald

Andre Bendewald — Andre Bendewald played Maddy Piper between 1997 and 2000 Her acting career following ‘Suddenly Susan’ has mainly consisted of one-episode stints on popular television shows, such as ‘Two and a Half Men’ and ‘Last Man Standing’. She has notably appeared on nine episodes of ‘The Morning Show’ alongside Nestor.

Andre has been married to Mitch Rouse since 2001 and has two children.

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Eric Idle

Eric Idle — ‘Suddenly Susan’ saw Eric Idle play Ian Maxtone-Graham between 1999 and 2002. Eric began acting professionally in the 1960s, and his two biggest shows include ‘Do Not Adjust Your Set’ (1967 – 1969) and ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus’ (1969 – 1974). He has mostly done voice acting in the 2000s and his last IMDb credit is from a 2020 video for Save the Children.

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Currie Graham

Currie Graham — Currie Graham played Nate Knaborski on ‘Suddenly Susan’ between 1999 and 2000. Currie has stuck with television acting since the end of the hit NBC series. His longest-running character after ‘Suddenly Susan’ occurred on ‘Murder in the First’, which had him on screen for 32 episodes between 2014 and 2016. Recently, he has acted on ‘Emergence’ (pictured on the right), ‘The Rookie’, ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’, and more.

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David Strickland

David Strickland — As mentioned earlier, David Strickland starred in ‘Suddenly Season’ for its first three seasons prior to his death. He began his acting career in 1994. He was 29 years old when he died.

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