A beloved sitcom star from one of the best-known shows of the 1980s was spotted enjoying a casual outing in Santa Barbara this week, aged 77.

She launched her career in the 1970s, featuring in movies led by such top-flight names as Robert Redford, Jacqueline Bisset and Lana Turner.

But her ship truly came in during the following decade, when she held a main role on a long-running series that captured the cultural changes of the Reagan Era. 

The program starred her as the mother of a precocious teenage boy, played by an actor who later became one of the top film stars of the 1980s and 1990s.

Two decades on from the end of the show, after having three husbands and five children, this actress left fans stunned by coming out as a lesbian.

Can you guess who she is?

A beloved sitcom star from one of the best-known TV shows of the 1980s was spotted enjoying a casual outing in Santa Barbara this week, aged 77

The actress is Meredith Baxter, who played the matriarch of the household on the legendary 1980s situation comedy Family Ties.

She was glimpsed this week wearing a casually stylish ensemble as she went grocery shopping in Santa Barbara, where she lives with her wife Nancy Locke. 

Family Ties made a star of Michael J. Fox, who played her character’s teenage son, a Young Republican during Ronald Reagan’s presidency.

Meredith and Michael Gross led the cast as Elyse and Steven, the mother and father of the Keaton family and a pair of aging ex-hippies who find themselves having to adjust to the flowering of conservatism in America.

Michael featured as their right-wing son Alex, while Justin Bateman and Tina Yothers played the daughters, Mallory and Jennifer. 

During the run of Family Ties, Meredith conceived twins by her then-husband David Birney, so a pregnancy was written into the show for her character and the Keatons acquired another son called Andy, played by child actor Brian Bosnell.

The sitcom ran for seven seasons from 1982 to 1989, garnering a devoted viewership and winning five Emmys, three of which were awarded to Michael. 

Meredith had begun her career in the 1970s, featuring in such films as All The President’s Men starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, Stand Up And Be Counted with Jacqueline Bisset and the Lana Turner vehicle Bittersweet Love.

It’s Meredith Baxter! Meredith (third from right) is pictured for Family Ties with (from left) Tina Yothers, Brian Bonsall, Michael Gross, Michael J. Fox and Justin Bateman

She was glimpsed this week wearing a casually stylish ensemble as she went grocery shopping in Santa Barbara, where she lives with her wife Nancy Locke

Meredith had begun her career in the 1970s, featuring in such films as All The President’s Men starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman

Meredith and Michael Gross led the cast as Elyse and Steven Keaton, the mother and father of the family and a pair of aging ex-hippies

(from left) Justin BAteman, Scott Valentine, Michael J. Fox, Meredith and Michael are all pictured on a 1987 episode of Family Ties called D Is For Date

Michael, Meredith, Michael, Tina Yothers, Justine and Keith Amos are pictured on a 1989 episode of Family Ties called All In The Neighborhood: Part 2

Her early television work included guest sH๏τs on series like The Partridge Family and The Doris Day Show – before she landed her own sitcom in 1972.

Enтιтled Bridget Loves Bernie, the show was led by her and actor David Birney, playing a Catholic woman and a Jewish man who get married.

Read MoreEXCLUSIVE 80s sitcom star who acted with Michael J. Fox and played a Laker Girl is unrecognizable… can you guess who?

Although Bridget Loves Bernie earned high ratings, it was canceled after one season following pressure from Jewish groups who argued the storyline insulted their faith, and even threats from the vigilante Jewish Defense League.

Meredith and David married in real life in 1974 but divorced in 1989, after a troubled union during which – according to her 2011 memoir – he was allegedly physically abusive to her, a claim he resolutely denied.

During their stormy marriage, Meredith achieved new heights of fame on the Aaron Spelling drama Family, which ran from 1976 to 1990 earned her two Emmy nods.

However it was in 1982 that she landed her career-defining job as Elyse on Family Ties, catapulting her to household name status. 

Her career progressed from strength to strength, such as an Emmy-nominated turn in the 1992 TV movie A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story, in which she played a real woman convicted of murdering her ex-husband and his new wife.

In 2009, after three divorces from men, Meredith went on the Today show and publicly revealed that she was attracted to women.

Meredith, Michael, Brian, Michael, Tina and Justine are pictured attending a 100th episode party for Family Ties, held in 1986

‘I am a lesbian and it was a later-in-life recognition,’ she revealed to host Matt Lauer. ‘Some people would say, well, you’re living a lie and, you know, the truth is – not at all. This has only been for the past seven years.’

When she came out, she was already dating her future wife Nancy Locke, whom she married in 2013 after a romance that by that stage had lasted eight years.

Meredith continued acting on television in recent decades, appearing on series like Glee, The Young And The Restless, RuPaul’s Drag U and Switched At Birth.

Her latest credit is the 2021 movie Genesis: The Future of Mankind Is Woman, an action comedy about a woman who is able to reproduce without sperm.