10 7th Heaven Actors Who Were Also On The Secret Life Of The American Teenager

If you grew up watching 7th Heaven and The Secret Life of the American Teenager, you probably recognized some of the same faces. As it turns out, numerous 7th Heaven actors were cast in major, recurring, or minor roles on The Secret Life. This is because both shows were created by Brenda Hampton. While 7th Heaven originally aired on the WB, many remember watching it in syndication on ABC Family (now Freeform), the network that aired The Secret Life.

Hampton’s 7th Heaven was an Aaron Spelling show that began in 1996 and lasted for eleven seasons. The Secret Life of the American Teenager premiered in 2008 and aired for five seasons. Both shows had overtly religious themes due to the persuasions of characters, especially 7th Heaven, which is all about a pastor and his large family. Here are ten actors who you may not have realized were on both shows at least once.

10 Haylie Duff

Many fans would remember Haylie Duff as Sandy Jameson on 7th Heaven. The young mom became very close to Lucy Camden and continually struggled in her relationship with the baby’s father.

Haylie also made an appearance on The Secret Life as a young attorney for Ben Boykewich, who just can’t stay out of trouble by the later days of the series.

9 Christian Serratos

Christian Serratos is a minor character in The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She plays the devious Raven, Dylan’s friend, and Daniel’s ex-girlfriend.

Grace Bowman has a relationship with Daniel and, therefore, can’t stand Raven. Several years before her arc on The Secret Life, Serratos played a receptionist once on 7th Heaven, during Eric Camden’s resurgence of heart problems in season eleven.

8 Bryan Callen

Though he is not a favorite character on either show, Bryan Callen plays a dad on both 7th Heaven and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. 

On the former drama, he is Vic Petrowski, the father of Ruthie’s special friend, Peter. Vic loves his son, but the man has some trouble learning how to grow up. This is true of his character on The Secret Life, too, only worse. Callen plays Bob Underwood, Ricky’s abusive and creepy father. The man breaks into Ricky’s life a couple of times on the series and is then never heard from again.

7 Mayim Bialik

Mayim Bialik played the second guidance counselor on The Secret Life. This character, Dr. Wilameena Bink, has a sketchy history (taking a previous student to prom), but she is good for Grant High School while she is there.

Years before this role, Bialik guest-starred on a season seven episode of 7th Heaven as Cathy, an engaged woman whose future marriage needs help. Cathy and her future husband get their counseling from Chandler, the associate pastor.

6 Camille Winbush

Camille Winbush was one of Reverend Hamilton’s kids on 7th Heaven. She was very young in her role as Lynn Hamilton and was on six episodes between 1996 and ’99. Lynn and Ruthie often played together while their pastor dads tackled difficult problems, like in the somber episode The Color of God. Camille Winbush continued on to lots of other projects, including her important role on The Bernie Mac Show. 

A couple years after that ended, Winbush was a series regular on The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She played Lauren Treacy, the best friend of Amy Juergens and Madison Cooperstein. In a 2019 email interview with the author, Camille Winbush agreed that Lauren was a needed “voice of reason” on the show. She also stated that she “was glad there was some representation of African American people on the show.”

5 Mackenzie Rosman

Everyone remembers the adorable youngest sister on 7th Heaven, Ruthie Camden. Ruthie was a sweet five-year-old at the beginning of the show and grew up quite a bit by the time it ended.

She then played a typical “bad girl” on The Secret Life, one of Ricky Underwood’s conquests. Her character, Zoe, appeared in four episodes total.

4 Beverly Mitchell

Beverly Mitchell was one of two cast members to act on every single episode of 7th Heaven–the other to do this was Stephen Collins. Beverly grew up in the role of Lucy Camden, and she led a complex high school life before going on to college classes, marriage, and ministry.

On The Secret Life, she played the third and final guidance counselor of Grant High School, Kaitlin O’Malley. She did a good job to guide bratty, ungrateful teens like Amy Juergens and Ben Boykewich. Mitchell had a good run on the show, playing her role in twenty-eight episodes.

3 Alice Hirson

Alice Hirson is such a vital part of both shows. She plays a grandmother on each of them! Hirson is Mimsy in The Secret Life, Anne Juergens’ mother. In the later seasons, Anne spends a lot more time taking care of her aging mom. Amy and Ashley are pretty rude and mostly just care about Mimsy’s money.

On 7th Heaven, Hirson plays Annie Camden’s mother. Her grandchildren adore her, and the episode about Grandma Jenny’s death is one of the saddest in the entire show. After she is deceased, Jenny will occasionally appear to Annie to comfort her. Fun fact: long before either of these shows, Alice Hirson was also the first Tanner grandma on Full House.

2 Deborah Raffin

Deborah Raffin played another valuable extension of the Camden family, Aunt Julie. The fun-loving aunt has some serious alcohol addiction issues at first, but she goes on to become a responsible, sober, and loving wife and mother.

On The Secret Life of the American Teenager, she plays Dr. Hightower, whom Amy sees before she even tells her mother about her pregnancy. This is Raffin’s last credited role on IMDb.

1 Christopher Michael

Christopher Michael is a seasoned actor, director, and writer who played Sergeant/Detective Michaels on 7th Heaven. Michael was excellent in this role, and it was an important one. With five biological kids in the house (and then seven), the Camdens and their friends got into some serious trouble from time to time. Sergeant Michaels was an excellent law enforcement official with a big heart and a commitment to his community.

He was in a total of forty-five episodes and guest-starred every year that the show was on the air. Shortly after that, he played Coach Carter (usually just “Coach”) on The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Michael was in eleven episodes of this show, but it only lasted for five seasons as opposed to the eleven seasons 7th Heaven had. Coach was an important mentor for football player Jack Pappas.

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