Background and career
Dana Barron (born April 22, 1966) is an American actress who is best known for her role as the original Audrey Griswold in the 1983 film National Lampoon's Vacation, which she reprised in 2003's National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure for NBC television.
Barron's father, Robert Weeks Barron, was a director of commercials and a Congregationalist church pastor; Robert founded The Weist-Barron School of Television, the first commercial and soap opera acting for television school in the world. Barron is a fifth generation entertainer. Her great-grandparents were musicians, and her grandmother was a singer. Her grandfather was an opera singer, and her mother moved from Alabama to become an actress. Barron has a sister. Barron graduated from New York University with a degree in marketing.
Barron's sister, Allison, had been doing TV commercials at a young age, and Barron told her father that she wished to do the same. She began acting at age 10, doing TV commercials as well. By age 11, she was appearing with Christine Baranski in Hide and Seek on Broadway. By age 13, her first film was the horror film He Knows You're Alone, with Tom Hanks, which was also Hanks' first film. In 1983, Barron starred in the Chevy Chase comedy National Lampoon's Vacation, originating the role of Audrey Griswold. The film became a classic, and Barron would reprise the role 20 years later in the NBC TV movie spinoff, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure. Barron received a Daytime Emmy Award in 1989 for her appearance in the CBS after-school special No Means No. Barron appeared on the soap opera One Life to Live from 1984 to 1985 as Michelle Boudin. She starred in the 1998 The Magnificent Seven as Casey. She had a recurring role as Nikki Witt on the Fox series Beverly Hills, 90210, during which she was able to make her character's clothes and modify her lines. In 1992, she starred with JoBeth Williams and Chris Burke in the NBC movie Jonathan: The Boy Nobody Wanted. Barron has made guest appearances on TV shows including The Equalizer; In the Heat of the Night; Murder, She Wrote; and Babylon 5 as a telepath named Lauren Ashley in the Season 5 episode "The Corps Is Mother, the Corps Is Father".
Barron was in a long term relationship with filmmaker Michael Vickerman. They have a son.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
