How Faith SAVED ME

The Dallas star opens up about fame, family and overcoming tough times

During the 1980s, Charlene Tilton was best known for stirring up trouble as sly, sexy Lucy Ewing on TV’s Dallas. Just 17 when she was cast, the show “changed everything” for the up-and-coming actress, whose previous credits included small parts on Happy Days and in the 1976 switcheroo comedy Freaky Friday. “Dallas was an international phenomenon,” Charlene, 64, tells Closer. “I was able to travel all over the world.” These days, the twice-divorced star — whose latest film, Heaven Sent, is streaming now on PureFlix — prefers staying close to home in Nashville. “I live 2.8 miles away from my grandsons, so I’m with them every day,” she says. “They are everything to me. I literally think of them every second of every day. It’s hard for me to want to work because I just want to be with them all the time!”

What’s your new movie Heaven Sent about?

It’s a rom-com about two best girlfriends who had a hit song together back in the ’80s — we were a one-hit wonder called Sugar and Spice. I’m encouraging her to go out and find love... it’s really quite sweet and funny.

Growing up, you witnessed your mother’s struggle with mental illness. How did you cope with that at such a young age?

I was in foster care from 5 to 8 and also [lived] with different relatives for those three years. I remember I was in Effingham, Ill., and there was a Christmas program at school. I was about 7 and I had to sing “O Christmas Tree” with a group of kids. I just lost myself on stage...it was so magical. It took me out of the life I was living. I loved it.

That’s wonderful. And you stuck with it!