Nicollette Sheridan

Nicollette Sheridan
Years active	1984 - present
Spouse	Harry Hamlin (1991 - 1993) (divorced)

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). She is of Punjabi descent through her Great-Grandmother. 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 emigrated to the United States in 1973.

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 Peebles.

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. Less positively, she was named 2004's "worst dressed" by Mr. Blackwell. 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".

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. ABC was forced to apologise for airing it but the citation against Sheridan was dropped on March 14 2005. On November 22 2004, 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.

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.

According to Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry, Nicollette Sheridan is to leave the show.

Nicollette Sheridan is confident her character, Edie Britt, will be back on Desperate Housewives for another season.

Nicollette Sheridan will make several appearances as Edie Britt on Season 5 of Desperate Housewives this fall.

Personal life

From 1979 to 1985, Sheridan dated the then teen-idol Leif Garrett. They began dating when she was 15 and 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 rumored to be a "green card marriage". However, this is unlikely the case as both Savalas, her half brother, and TV network CBS could have sponsored her for any needed 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. Sheridan was reportedly pregnant with his child but both of them have denied these rumours.

In 2006 Nicollette Sheridan and Michael Bolton sang a duet titled The Second Time Around for the album Bolton Swings Sinatra.

In March 2008 Nicollette Sheridan posed naked for a London Fog charity ad which also featured Nicollette's fiancé, Michael Bolton.

On March 25 2008 Nicollette Sheridan settled a lawsuit brought by a former manager who alleged that he was fired by the actress to avoid paying a commission.

Filmography

• The Sure Thing (1985)
• Noises Off (1992)
• Spy Hard (1996)
• Beverly Hills Ninja (1997)
• Dead Husbands (1998)
• 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 (2008)
• Noah's Ark: The New Beginning (2008)

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)
• Tarzan & Jane (2002)
• Deadly Betrayal (2003)
• Karate Dog (2004)
• Deadly Visions (2004)
• Desperate Housewives (2004-present)

External links

• Nicollette Sheridan at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com person
• The infamous NFL commercial
• Nicollette Sheridan at Maxim
• Nicollette Sheridan at AllMovie
• Nicollette Sheridan at Rotten Tomatoes