Amy Davidson
Davidson in June 2006
Born	Amy Davidson (1979-09-15) September 15, 1979 (age 32) Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1995–present
Height	5'0" (1.52 m)
Spouse	Kacy Lockwood (2010-present)

Amy Davidson (born September 15, 1979) is an American actress best known for her role as Kerry Hennessy in the ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter.

Early life and education[link]

Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Davidson was raised in an academic environment. Her father was a principal at Le Mirage Elementary School, and her mother was an English teacher at Desert Foothills Junior High School. Her parents enrolled her in dance classes as a young child. She became a member of "Dance Motion", Davidson took ballet, pointe, hip hop and modern dancing. While Amy attended Shadow Mountain High School, she began appearing in advertisements. Her acting coach Jean Fowler encouraged her to move to Hollywood.^[1]

Career[link]

After appearing in TV movie The Truth About Jane and an episode of the drama series Judging Amy, she was cast in the Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen series So Little Time. She guest-starred on the sitcom Malcolm In The Middle and in the Hallmark Channel film Annie's Point opposite Betty White and Richard Thomas. Other roles include the film Goyband, in which she stars as a young Orthodox Jewish girl who falls for an ex-boyband pop star (Adam Pascal) who performs at her family's hotel in the Catskills. Goyband's cast includes Natasha Lyonne, Tovah Feldshuh, Dean Edwards, Tibor Feldman, and Cris Judd.

Personal life[link]

Davidson married Kacy Lockwood in 2010. The website sitcomsonline.com started an online campaign to get Davidson to guest star or recur on the new ABC comedy Suburgatory, and Davidson has loved the idea and would love to appear on the new sitcom.^[2]

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

Film[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Amy Davidson at the Internet Movie Database
• Amy Davidson on Twitter

This article about an American television actor or actress born in the 1970s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Steven Michael "Steve" Burns (born October 9, 1973) is an American entertainer.^[1] He is best known as the original host of the long-running children's television program Blue's Clues.

Early career[link]

Steven Burns was born in rural Pennsylvania, in a small town named Boyertown. He played in bands called Sudden Impact US, Nine Pound Truck, and the Ivys (which he has called a "Morrissey rip-off band") while in high school and college.^[2] He studied theatre under an acting scholarship at DeSales University in Center Valley, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley.^[3] He quit school and moved to New York City to become a professional actor.^[4] He lived in a basement apartment near Times Square, finding his first success as a voice-over artist for ads and making appearances on Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order.^[3]

[edit] Blue's Clues

Also in 1995, Burns auditioned for Blue's Clues, thinking it was another voice-over role.^[4] He showed up with long hair and an earring; "I was a bit of a skate rat", he said.^[3] Initially, the Nickelodeon executives were not supportive of Burns hosting their new show; in subsequent auditions the show's creators requested that he dress more conservatively. (Burns reported that the creators, in a call-back phone conversation, asked him, "Could you not look like you tomorrow morning?")^[5] It became apparent, however, that he was the favorite with preschool test audiences. Executive producer and co-creator Traci Paige Johnson reported that of the 100 people they auditioned, Burns was "the realest".^[4] As Dr. Alice Wilder, Nickelodeon's Director of Research and Development said, "[T]here was just something about this kid, who was fresh out of Pennsylvania, who just knew where to look in the camera to really talk to kids. He was just right."^[5]

From its premiere, Blue's Clues was an instant hit, due to Steve Burns' performances as much as the show's format. He became "a superstar" among his audience and their parents, but unknown to everyone else,^[4] and enjoyed what he called being a "micro-celebrity, about as small a celebrity as you can be."^[3] As the New York Times reported, he "developed an avid following among both preteen girls and mothers. The former send torrents of e-mail; the latter scrutinize the show with an intensity that might make even Elmo, the red Muppet, blush."^[3] In 2000, People magazine included Burns in their annual list of America's most eligible bachelors.^[6] According to writer Diane Tracy, Burns was "destined for the part".^[7] Also according to Tracy, Burns was not the typical children's television host: "There is nothing syrupy about him—his humor is sometimes borderline offbeat, but never inappropriate for preschoolers".^[7]

Burns became "very involved" with the production of Blue's Clues from the beginning.^[6] One of the most challenging aspects of being the host of the show was performing in front of the "blue screen" before the animation was added.^[8] Burns called it "maddening"^[6] and likened it to "acting at the bottom of a swimming pool."^[9]

Departure[link]

After six years and over 100 shows,^[10] Burns departed Blue's Clues in 2002.^[5] His role in the show "was beginning to chafe" after five years and he left to pursue a music career. Johnson said that "what made Burns a great children's host was that 'he didn't want to be a children's host ... He loved kids, but he didn't want to make a career out of it.'"^[4] Burns himself stated, tongue-in-cheek, "I knew I wasn't gonna be doing children's television all my life, mostly because I refused to lose my hair on a kid's TV show, and it was happenin' — fast."^[5] The day after he finished filming his final episode of the show, he shaved his head, something he wanted to do for many years, but the show's producers would not let him.^[11][12]

Burns' departure caused a resurface of the rumors that had circulated about him since 1998. As Burns said, "The rumor mill surrounding me has always been really strange."^[5] These "specious claims" included dying from a heroin overdose, being run over by a car, and being replaced, like Paul McCartney of The Beatles was rumored to have been, by a look-alike. Some viewers claimed that "clues" regarding Burns' demise were placed within the show.^[13] Burns made an appearance on The Rosie O'Donnell Show to dispute these rumors,^[5] and he and co-creator Angela Santomero appeared on Today to help parents assuage the fears of children who might have heard the rumors.^[13]

Music career[link]

Burns worked on material for his first album, Songs for Dustmites, for two and a half years at a small studio in his home in Brooklyn before it was produced by PIAS Records in late 2002. He started work on the album after he left Blue's Clues in 2002, and it was later released in 2003.^[4] He posted eleven songs on his webpage, and then realizing he needed help with drums and arrangements, went to Steven Drozd of the Flaming Lips for advice. Drozd assisted Burns with six tracks, Lips bassist Michael Ivins engineered the album, and longtime Lips producer David Fridmann produced it. (Wayne Coyne, also of the Flaming Lips, did not work on the album, but cast Burns in his film Christmas on Mars, released in 2008.)^[11]

Burns started a band, Steve Burns and the Struggle, and completed his second album, Deep Sea Recovery Efforts, which was released in 2009. Members of the Struggle include Drozd and Ryan Smith of A Million Billion. He acted in a horror-comedy film in 2006 called Netherbeast Incorporated, with Darrell Hammond and Dave Foley, in which he played a vampire.^[14]

Discography[link]

• Songs for Dustmites (2003)
• Deep Sea Recovery Efforts (2009)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Steve Burns at the Internet Movie Database
• Steve Burns (and The Struggle) at MySpace
• Burns discusses his Blue's Clue experience and why he departed for an episode of "The Moth Presents"

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2012)

Kaley Cuoco
Cuoco at The Big Bang Theory panel at the 2008 Comic-Con convention
Born	Kaley Christine Cuoco (1985-11-30) November 30, 1985 (age 26) Camarillo, California, US
Residence	San Fernando Valley, California
Nationality	American
Occupation	Actress, voice actress
Years active	1992–present
Known for	8 Simple Rules Charmed The Big Bang Theory
Website
Twitter

Kaley Christine Cuoco ( /ˈkeɪliː ˈkwoʊkoʊ/ KAY-lee KWOH-koh; born November 30, 1985)^[1] is an American film and television actress. She first came to attention for her role as Bridget Hennessy on the Emmy Award-winning sitcom 8 Simple Rules (2002–2005). She later starred as Billie Jenkins on the final season of the supernatural drama series Charmed (2005–2006). She has gained international acclaim and recognition for her current role as Penny on the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning comedy series The Big Bang Theory (2007–present),^[1] which became the highest rated comedy on television among adults 18–49 for the 2009–10 season.^[2] Cuoco's success within the television industry has launched her film career, appearing in films such as Lucky 13 (2005), The Penthouse (2010), Hop (2011), and The Last Ride (2011).

Career[link]

As a child, Cuoco was once a nationally-ranked amateur tennis player, a sport she took up when she was three years old but had to give up when she was six.^[1] Her role as Maureen McCormick in the 2000 TV movie Growing Up Brady brought her much attention, as well as a role on the CBS sitcom Ladies Man. In 2004 in addition to her role on 8 Simple Rules in which she played a teenager, she had starring roles on the NBC miniseries, 10.5, on the ABC Family original movie, Crimes of Fashion, and in the independent film, Debating Robert Lee.^[1] In 2000 she starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie Alley Cats Strike.

Cuoco was named number 77 on FHM-Us 100 Sexiest Women in 2005 and number 21 in 2008.^[3] She was also named number 28 on Maxim's annual Hot 100 list in 2010 and number 13 in 2011.

She began voicing the character of Brandy Harrington on the Disney Channel's cartoon, Brandy and Mr. Whiskers, later in 2004.

Cuoco played Bridget Hennessy on the ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules. Bridget was the eldest child, despite Cuoco being six years younger than her on-screen little sister (Amy Davidson), and was portrayed as "the most beautiful girl in the school." She had several boyfriends throughout the series and used her feminine wiles to exert significant control over the boys she encountered.

In the eighth season of the hit cult TV show Charmed, Cuoco appeared as Billie Jenkins a young powerful witch who was also one of whitelighter Paige Matthews' charges. Executive producer Brad Kern stated Kaley's character was initially brought in as a possible spin-off. In 2004 Cuoco co-starred in the movie The Hollow with Nick Carter and Kevin Zegers.

In September 2007, Cuoco began a starring role in the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory. She plays Penny, an aspiring actress and employee at The Cheesecake Factory who lives across the hall from two nerdy scientists, Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki). Prior to the 2010–2011 season, she earned $60,000 an episode for the series, the same as Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons. In 2010 the cast negotiated a raise for each actor to make $200,000 per episode.^[4] On September 13, 2010, she broke her leg in a horse-riding accident and missed two episodes of the series.^[5]

Cuoco also starred in the Lifetime film To Be Fat Like Me, which premiered on January 8, 2007.^[6] She also played a minor role in the Prison Break episodes "The Message" and "Chicago" as well as taking the leading female role in the comedy horror spoof Killer Movie in 2008.

In 2011 Cuoco appeared in Allure magazine's annual "Naked Truth" feature. The photograph, which appeared in the May issue, was taken by Patrick Demarchelier.^[7] That same year, she appeared in the films Hop and The Last Ride.^[8] She was also chosen to host both the 2011 Teen Choice Awards^[9] and the 2012 People's Choice Awards.^[10]

Personal life[link]

While working on The Big Bang Theory, Cuoco dated co-star Johnny Galecki for two years. They kept their relationship private until they broke up.^[11][12]

In October 2011 Cuoco announced her engagement to boyfriend Josh Resnik, an addiction specialist and former bassist for Danzig.^[13] However, in March 2012 she revealed that she was no longer engaged.^[14]

Filmography[link]

Awards[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kaley Cuoco

• Kaley Cuoco at the Internet Movie Database
• Kaley Cuoco on Twitter