Nancy Stafford was born in Wilton Manors, Florida, a suburb of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, where she was raised in a Southern Baptist family home. She has starred in many TV shows, such as Riptide (1984), Remington Steele (1982), Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1983), Who's the Boss? (1984), Hunter (1984) and Quantum Leap (1989). She also guest-starred on an episode of Magnum, P.I. (1980). Her biggest claim to fame on television was with Andy Griffith on Matlock (1986). She also guest-starred in many shows in the late 1990s such as ER (1994), Frasier (1993), Babylon 5 (1993), Baywatch (1989) and The Mentalist (2008). Additionally, Stafford played "The Lady in the Park" in the 2004 Award-winning short film, The Proverb (2004), along with her friends, Jeff Andrus and Scott Waara.