Markie Post had a net worth of $12 million at the time of her death in August 2021, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Post was born on November 4, 1950, in Palo Alto, California, and she died at age 70 after a long battle with cancer. She stood around 5 feet 7 inches tall and spent more than four decades on television, best known for playing bail bondswoman Terri Michaels on “The Fall Guy” and public defender Christine Sullivan on “Night Court.” Her income came almost entirely from steady acting work rather than any single big payday
Quick Facts
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Real Name | Marjorie Armstrong Post |
| Net Worth | $12 million |
| Date of Birth | November 4, 1950 |
| Died | August 7, 2021 (age 70) |
| Birthplace | Palo Alto, California |
| Death Place | Los Angeles, California |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years Active | 1978 to 2019 |
| Spouse | Michael A. Ross (married 1982) |
| Children | Two daughters |
| Height | Approximately 5 feet 7 inches |
Early Life and Biography
Markie Post was born Marjorie Armstrong Post. Her father, Richard F. Post, worked as a nuclear physicist, and her mother, Marylee Post, wrote poetry. She was the second of three children, alongside brothers Rodney and Stephen, and the family split their time between Stanford and Walnut Creek, California.
Post attended Las Lomas High School in Walnut Creek, where she was a cheerleader. She went on to Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in art. Friends who knew her before her acting career described someone drawn to performing but in no rush to force it.
Before she ever appeared on screen, Post worked behind the camera. She served as an associate producer on the game show “Double Dare” and dealt cards on “Card Sharks.” She also appeared as a celebrity player on game shows including “Pyramid” and “Password.” Those production jobs gave her an early, practical look at how television actually gets made, and that experience carried into how she approached acting once she started auditioning.
Career Timeline
Post made her acting debut in 1979 and spent the next four decades building a steady career across network television, without ever leaning on a single breakout hit to carry her.
Early Guest Roles
She started with small parts on shows including “CHiPs,” “Barnaby Jones,” “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Simon & Simon” and “The Love Boat.” These guest spots ran through the late 1970s and early 1980s and gave her enough visibility in the industry to land her first series regular role.
The Fall Guy, 1982 to 1985
Post joined the cast of “The Fall Guy” as Terri Michaels, a bail bondswoman working alongside Lee Majors’ stuntman character. She appeared in 65 episodes and became a familiar face on ABC’s lineup, giving her a real foothold in network television for the first time.
Night Court, 1985 to 1992
Her best known role came next. Post played public defender Christine Sullivan on NBC’s “Night Court” for nearly 160 episodes, joining the cast full time ahead of the show’s third season. The sitcom’s long run and lasting syndication deals made Post one of the more recognizable comedic actresses of her generation, and the role is still the one most closely tied to her name.
Hearts Afire and Later Television Work
From 1992 to 1995, Post co-starred with John Ritter on the CBS sitcom “Hearts Afire,” playing Georgie Anne Lahti Hartman, a role that let her lead a show rather than support one. She later took recurring parts on “Scrubs” as Elliot Reid’s mother, appeared as herself on “30 Rock,” and played Barbara “Bunny” Fletcher on “Chicago P.D.” from 2014 to 2017. She also voiced June Darby in the animated series “Transformers: Prime.”
Post’s film credits include a memorable turn as Mary’s mother in the 1998 comedy “There’s Something About Mary.” She kept working through 2019, taking a recurring role on “The Kids Are Alright” and appearing in the Lifetime films “Christmas Reservations” and “Four Christmases and a Wedding,” even while receiving chemotherapy for the cancer that would eventually take her life.
Net Worth Breakdown
At the time of her death, Celebrity Net Worth put Markie Post’s fortune at $12 million. That figure reflects more than 40 years of consistent work in television, spanning network sitcoms, drama guest spots, voice acting and film, rather than one large windfall.
Post never had a single blockbuster payday the way some film stars do. Her wealth built up gradually through series regular salaries on “The Fall Guy,” “Night Court” and “Hearts Afire,” combined with syndication residuals from “Night Court,” which has aired in reruns for decades. Long-running network sitcoms from that era typically raised cast pay each season a show continued, and residual checks from syndication kept arriving long after production wrapped, which helps explain how an actress without a movie franchise still ended her career with an eight-figure net worth.
Income Sources
Television acting was Post’s primary source of income throughout her career. Her series regular roles on three network shows, “The Fall Guy,” “Night Court” and “Hearts Afire,” provided the bulk of her earnings, with “Night Court’s” nearly eight-season run and continued syndication likely accounting for a significant share of her total wealth.
Post supplemented that income with guest appearances and recurring roles later in her career, including paid work on “Scrubs,” “Chicago P.D.” and “30 Rock.” Her voice acting role as June Darby on “Transformers: Prime” added a separate income stream outside live-action television, and it showed her willingness to keep working across different formats rather than sticking to one type of role.
She also had early production credits on game shows, though those jobs came before her acting career took off and were not a meaningful contributor to her final net worth. Post did not run public businesses or take on brand endorsement deals the way some of her contemporaries did, so her income stayed concentrated in acting and voice work for most of her life. Even while undergoing cancer treatment in her late 60s, she continued booking guest and recurring roles rather than stepping away from the industry entirely.
Family
Post married her college boyfriend, Stephen Knox, in 1971, and the couple divorced the following year. In 1982, she married television producer and writer Michael A. Ross, and the two stayed together until her death in 2021.
Post and Ross had two daughters, Katie Armstrong Ross, born in 1987, and Daisy Ross, born in 1990. Post balanced her acting schedule with raising her daughters through much of the 1990s, a stretch that overlapped with filming “Hearts Afire.” Those who worked with her often mentioned that she made time for her family even during her busiest production years.
She was survived by her husband and both daughters when she died on August 7, 2021, following a nearly four-year cancer battle. In a statement at the time, her family said their pride was in who she was outside of acting as much as her career itself.
Physical Stats
Post reportedly stood around 5 feet 7 inches tall. She was known for a warm, approachable screen presence rather than any particular physical trademark, and press coverage of her career rarely focused on her appearance beyond describing her as a familiar, likable face on network television for more than 30 years. That approachability is part of why roles like Christine Sullivan on “Night Court” resonated with audiences long after the show ended its original run.
