Nicollette Sheridan

Nicollette Sheridan (born November 21, 1963) is a Golden Globe-nominated British-born American actress. She has appeared in soap operas, movies and television series, and is perhaps best known for her roles as Paige Matheson on Knots Landing and as Edie Britt on Desperate Housewives.

Biography

Early life

Sheridan was born Colette Sheridan in Worthing, West Sussex, England, the daughter of British actress Sally Sheridan (née Adams).^[1] Her great-grandmother was of Punjabi Indian descent.^[2] Contrary to rumour, Sheridan is not related to actress Dinah Sheridan. Sheridan's biological father has never been identified, but Sheridan has said that she considers her mother's late ex-boyfriend, actor Telly Savalas, her father. Sheridan's half-brother, Nick Savalas, is his son. Sheridan attended school at Millfield in Somerset and immigrated to the United States in 1973.^[1]

Career

Sheridan made her debut in Paper Dolls, but her breakthrough came in 1986, when she joined the cast of the CBS night-time soap Knots Landing as "Paige Matheson". She started out as a recurring role, but proved to be so popular that she was a regular during the 1988-89 season. For her performance in the role, she won the 1990 Soap Opera Digest Award for "Outstanding Lead Actress: Prime Time" and the 1991 Soap Opera Digest Award for "Outstanding Heroine: Prime Time". The same year, she was named one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People". After the series ended in 1993, she appeared in several made-for-TV movies and the films Spy Hard and Beverly Hills Ninja and auditioned for the role of Grace Adler on Will & Grace (on which she would later guest-star). Despite her carefully cultivated sex symbol image, Sheridan has only done one nude scene during her career, in the low budget 1999 film "Raw Nerve", opposite Mario Van Peeples. In 2004, Sheridan's role as sexy divorcee Edie Britt in ABC's Desperate Housewives brought her renewed media attention. She was nominated for a 2005 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and was named #48 on Maxim's 2006 List.^[3] Less positively, she was named 2004's "worst dressed" by Mr. Blackwell. Mr. Blackwell's citation probably resulted from the colourful and boldly-cut gown Sheridan wore as a presenter at the American Music Awards on November 14, 2004 but he had earlier (TV Guide, July 22, 1989) praised her fashion sense: "daring ... with her panache, she brings it off without a hitch. For the adventurer in all of us, she's the one to watch". She also faced media speculation that she had undergone extensive plastic surgery, particularly breast augmentation.^[4]

Still from the controversial Monday Night Football pre-game sketch

On November 15, 2004, Sheridan was cited by the FCC for her appearance in a sketch that opened the evening's Monday Night Football broadcast. The Desperate Housewives-inspired sketch, showing Sheridan dropping a towel to attract the attention of football player Terrell Owens who then said "ah hell", was widely condemned as being sexually suggestive.^[5][6] ABC was forced to apologise for airing it but the citation against Sheridan was dropped on March 14, 2005. A week later, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) aired an also controversial parody showing WWE Diva Trish Stratus dropping her towel to attract WWE Superstar Shelton Benjamin, but being caught in the act by the company's chairman, Vince McMahon.^[7] Todd Schnitt of radio station WFLZ-FM in Tampa, Florida, placed an early-morning telephone call to Sheridan on November 18, 2004, waking her to discuss the Monday Night Football controversy (which had come to be called "Towelgate"). On January 30, 2007, the FCC levied a $10,000 fine because the station violated regulations in failing to inform Sheridan that the interview was being broadcast.

Personal life

From 1979 to 1985, Sheridan dated then teen-idol Leif Garrett. They began dating when she was 15 and she lived with him in his mother's home while still a minor. As an adult, Sheridan was involved in an unsuccessful attempt to end Garrett's drug abuse. Sheridan was married to actor Harry Hamlin from September 7, 1991 through 1993. Because the marriage lasted exactly two years (the amount of time required for an American citizen's spouse to receive permanent residency), it was rumoured to be a "green card" marriage. However, this is unlikely, as both Savalas and CBS could have sponsored her for any necessary visas without her needing to resort to a false marriage. From January to October 2005, Sheridan was engaged to Swedish personal trainer, Nicklas Söderblom. After their break-up, Sheridan returned to ex-boyfriend Michael Bolton, to whom she became engaged in March 2006. Nicollette is reportedly pregnant with his child.^[8]

Filmography

• The Sure Thing (1985)
• Noises Off (1992)
• Spy Hard (1996)
• Beverly Hills Ninja (1997)
• I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998)
• Raw Nerve (1999)
• .com for Murder (2002)
• Lost Treasure (2003)
• Deadly Visions (2004)
• Code Name: The Cleaner (2007)
• Fly Me to the Moon (2007)

TV career

• Paper Dolls (1984) (cancelled after 13 episodes)
• Dead Man's Folly (1986)
• Dark Mansions (1986)
• Knots Landing (cast member from 1986-1993)
• Deceptions (1990)
• Lucky/Chances (1990) (miniseries)
• Somebody's Daughter (1992)
• A Time to Heal (1994)
• Shadows of Desire (1994)
• Silver Strand (1995)
• Virus (1995)
• Indictment: The McMartin Trial (1995)
• The People Next Door (1996)
• Murder in My Mind (1997)
• Knots Landing: Back to the Cul-de-Sac (1997) (miniseries)
• Dead Husbands (1998)
• The Spiral Staircase (2000)
• Haven't We Met Before? (2002)
• Deadly Betrayal (2003)
• Deadly Visions (2004)
• Desperate Housewives (2004-present)

References

External links

• Nicollette Sheridan at the Internet Movie Database
• Nicollette Sheridan at TV.com
• Get Desperate! - Nicollette Sheridan People Guide entry & news listings
• The infamous NFL commercial at Desperate.TV
• Nicollette Sheridan at Maxim
• Nicollette Sheridan at Rotten Tomatoes