After appearing as a sex worker in one early episode of “Matlock,” Stafford later returned — in a completely different role. Beginning in the sophomore season, the actress portrayed lawyer and Matlock’s eventual legal partner Michelle Thomas. Once the series came to a close, Stafford became the host of the fashion and beauty talk show “Main Floor.” She also appeared in guest stints on TV shows including “Frasier,” “ER,” and “The Mentalist,” with an 8-episode arc on the Shonda Rhimes drama “Scandal.”

Aside from her TV work, Stafford has appeared primarily in Christian films and Christmas movies over the last decade or so, popping up in Columbine massacre drama “I’m Not Afraid” and starring in the 2012 movie “Christmas Oranges” and Pureflix’s “War on Christmas” movie “Christmas With a Capital C.” Some of her other post-“Matlock” film credits include “A Mermaid’s Tale,” “The Mulligan,” “Faith, Hope & Love,” and — an odd one out here — TV movie “Deadly Invasion: The Killer Bee Nightmare.”

When she’s not working as an actress, Stafford is a Christian speaker and author of books including “Beauty by the Book: Seeing Yourself as God Sees You.” According to a biography shared on the website Speak Up Speaker Services, Stafford has appeared on Christian talk shows like “The 700 Club” and “Focus on the Family,” hosted multiple TV specials in support of Israel, and works with several religious organizations. In 2014, she told the Christian Post that she returned to religion after she was at some point diagnosed with cancer on her face. “I realized that everything I had built my ‘perfect’ life on could be taken away in a moment,” she told the outlet.