Whether it was a sexy role in “Summer School†(1987), a smart role on “Ally McBeal†(Fox,1997-2000) or a troubled role on “Melrose Place†(Fox 1992-97), earthy blonde beauty Courtney Thorne-Smith delighted fans for almost twenty years, providing her own wit, depth and charm to “good girl†parts, which in lesser hands, could have come across as thankless and bland.
Thorne-Smith was born on Nov. 8, 1967 in San Francisco, CA and later graduated from Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton, CA. She realized her love of acting while performing in a kindergarten production of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.†Her father, a computer market researcher, and her mother, a therapist, divorced when she was seven years old, leaving her to live with one or both of them at different stages of her childhood and teenage years. She began her career with the Ensemble Theatre Company in Mill Valley, CA while still a student in high school.
While most of her peers were still worrying about curfews and pimples, Amanda Bynes was starring in her own TV show at the age of 13. Her radiant smile, comedic timing, and fearlessness earned the actress rave reviews and a preteen fanbase for “The Amanda Show” (Nickelodeon, 1999-2001).
It was difficult to say whether Shannen Doherty was best known for her acting or her off camera antics. As Brenda Walsh, twin sister to Brandon and the resident Midwestern girl putting down roots in Beverly Hills, Doherty made her mark on pop cultural history with her four-year stint on Fox's iconic TV hit, “Beverly Hills, 90210” (1990-2000). At the same time she played virginal Brenda, Doherty began attracting media attention – both tabloid and mainstream – for her perceived temperamental behavior off screen.
A longtime favorite of frat boys and fan-boys alike, actress Jessica Alba started out in commercials before graduating to the small screen. Her turn as a pre-adolescent mean queen during the 1994-95 season of the children’s comedy series, “The Secret World of Alex Mack” (Nickelodeon, 1994-98), helped her land the role of Maya Graham for the first two seasons of “The New Adventures of Flipper” (Synd., 1994-2000).