Courtney Thorne-Smith Biography

Courtney Thorne-Smith (born November 8, 1967) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Alison Parker on Melrose Place, Georgia Thomas on Ally McBeal, Cheryl in According to Jim, and her recurring role on Two and a Half Men as Lyndsey Mackelroy.

Early life

She was born in San Francisco, California, and grew up in Menlo Park, a suburb south of San Francisco. Her father, Walter Smith, was a computer market researcher and her mother Lora was a therapist. They divorced when Courtney was seven years old and she lived with both parents at different stages. She has an older sister, Jennifer, who is an advertising executive. She attended Menlo-Atherton High School, in Atherton, California, and graduated from Tamalpais High School, in Mill Valley, California, in 1985. She also performed with the Ensemble Theater Company in Mill Valley while attending high school.

Career

Films

Thorne-Smith made her first film appearance in the 1986 feature film drama Lucas alongside Winona Ryder, Corey Haim, and Charlie Sheen. She was also involved in a number of movies in the late 1980s, such as Welcome to 18 (1986), Summer School (1987), Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise (1987), and Side Out (1990). In 1998, she starred in the box office flop Chairman of the Board with Carrot Top. In 2009, she appeared in Sorority Wars.

Television

She appeared on a few mid-1980s television series such as Growing Pains and the short-lived Fast Times, as well as made-for-television movies including The Thanksgiving Promise and Infidelity before landing a regular role in the short-lived sitcom Day by Day with Douglas Sheehan, Linda Kelsey and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. In 1990, she was featured in six episodes of the popular television series L.A. Law as Laker Girl Kimberly Dugan.

Her first notable starring television role was as Alison Parker on Melrose Place from 1992"1997. During this time, in 1995, she starred in a made-for-television movie Beauty's Revenge which was also marketed in CD and DVD form as "Midwest Obsession". Following this, she went on to play Georgia Thomas on Ally McBeal from 1997"2000. Thorne-Smith originally auditioned for the title role in the show, which ultimately went to Calista Flockhart. Her character was written out of Ally McBeal at the beginning of the fourth season in 2000, though she returned for occasional guest appearances afterwards.

From 2001 to 2009, Thorne-Smith starred as Cheryl on the sitcom According to Jim. In 2007, her real-life pregnancy was hidden on the show at first, but was then written into the plot.

On February 18, 2010, Courtney signed on to play Alan Harper's girlfriend, Lyndsey Mackelroy, in the seventh season of Two and a Half Men. She appeared in two episodes of season 7 and several more in seasons 8, 9, 10 and 11.

Writing

On September 18, 2007, Thorne-Smith's novel, Outside In, was published by Broadway Books in New York.

Spokeswoman

In 1997, she became a spokeswoman for Almay cosmetics, being the face of their new "Skin Stays Clean" line of make-up. She is also a spokeswoman for the Atkins diet.

Personal life

In the early 1990s, Thorne-Smith dated Andrew Shue, her on-screen lover from Melrose Place. In June 2000, the actress married geneticist Andrew Conrad, but they divorced in January 2001. On January 1, 2007, she married Roger Fishman. On January 11, 2008, she gave birth to their first child, Jacob 'Jake' Emerson Fishman.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Welcome to 18	Lindsey
	Lucas	Alise
	Fast Times	Stacey Hamilton	7 Episodes
	The Thanksgiving Promise	Sheryl	TV Movie
1987	Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise	Sunny Carstairs
	Summer School	Pam House
	Growing Pains	Photography class student	Episode: "Nude Photos"
1988"1989	Day By Day	Kristin Carlson	series regular
1990	Anything But Love		Episode: "All About Allison"
	L.A. Law	Kimberly Dugan	6 Episodes
	Side Out	Samantha
1991	Fist Fight
1992	Jack's Place	Kim Logan	Episode: "Everything Old is New Again"
	Grapevine	Lisa	Episode: "The Lisa and Bill Story"
1992"1999	Melrose Place	Allison Parker	series regular
1994	Breach of Conduct	Helen Lutz	TV movie
1995	Whisper of the Heart	Shiho Tsukishima	voice
	Beauty's Revenge	Cheryl Ann Davis	TV movie:Alternative Title Midwest Obsession
1996	Partners	Danielle	Episode: "The Year of Bob?"
1997	Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man	Courtney Thorne-Smith (as herself)	TV Series (One episode: "Bonfire of the Panties")
	The Lovemaster	Deb
1997"2002	Ally McBeal	Georgia Thomas	Series regular
1998	Chairman of the Board	Natalie Stockwell
1999	Partners	Gina Darrin	Episode: "Always..."
2000	Norm	Rebecca	Episode: "Norm and the Hopeless Cause"
2001"2009	According to Jim	Cheryl	series regular
2005	Batman: New Times	Catwoman	voice
2009	Sorority Wars	Lutie	TV movie
2010"2013	Two and a Half Men	Lindsey MacElroy	recurring role (seasons 7"10)

Awards

Awards
Year	Result	Award	Category	Nominated Work
1998		Actor Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Ally McBeal
1999		Actor Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
2000		Actor Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series