Nicollette Sheridan

Nicollette Sheridan
Nicollette Sheridan at the premiere of the movie Beowulf on 5 November 2007
Born	(1963-11-21) 21 November 1963 (age 49) Worthing, Sussex, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1984–present
Notable work(s)	Desperate Housewives Knots Landing
Spouse(s)	Harry Hamlin (1991–1993; divorced)

Nicollette Sheridan (born 21 November 1963) is an English television and film actress, best known for playing Edie Britt on the ABC dramedy series Desperate Housewives (2004–2009) and as Paige Matheson of the CBS primetime soap opera Knots Landing (1986–1993). In film, she is known for her roles in The Sure Thing (1985), Noises Off (1992), Spy Hard (1996) and Beverly Hills Ninja (1997).

[edit] Early life

Sheridan was born in 1963 in Worthing, Sussex, England, the daughter of actress Sally Sheridan (née Adams).^[1] She attended school at Millfield in Somerset.^{[citation needed]} In 1969 her mother began an affair with Greek-American actor Telly Savalas while working with him on the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. After completion of shooting, Savalas moved the entire family to the United States.^[1] Her mother gave birth to a son, Nicholas Savalas, on 24 February 1973.^{[citation needed]} Telly Savalas and Sally Sheridan separated in 1977, and the family split their time between the United States and England.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Career

Nicollette Sheridan made her debut in the shortlived US primetime soap opera Paper Dolls in 1984, but her breakthrough came in 1986 when she joined the cast of the CBS primetime soap Knots Landing as "Paige Matheson". She started out in a recurring role but was a series regular by 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".^[2] The same year, she was named one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People".^[3] In 1990, she was cast as Lucky Santangelo in the television adaptation of Jackie Collins' Lucky Chances. She also appeared in several made-for-TV films, and after Knots Landing ended in 1993, she appeared in the theatrical films Spy Hard and Beverly Hills Ninja. In 1998, she auditioned for the role of Grace Adler on Will & Grace. Sheridan lost the role to Debra Messing, though she would later guest-star in an episode of the show.^[3]

In 2004, Sheridan's role as Edie Britt in ABC's Desperate Housewives brought her renewed media attention. On 15 November 2004, Sheridan (in character as Britt) appeared with NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens in an introductory skit to that evening's Monday Night Football episode. Some observers condemned the skit as sexually suggestive (see video^[4]), and ABC later apologized for airing it. On 14 March 2005, the Federal Communications Commission ruled that the skit did not violate decency standards, because it contained no outright nudity or foul language. Sheridan was nominated for a 2005 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and was ranked #48 on Maxim's 2006 Hot 100 List.^[5] In February 2009, during the show's fifth season, Sheridan announced her departure from Desperate Housewives. Her exit episode aired in April 2009 when Edie Britt was killed off in the series.^[6][7]

In 2010, Sheridan was set to star in an CBS comedy pilot as a mother who battles with her British ex-husband to get her teenaged daughter to stardom,^[8][9][10] but the series was not picked up for the autumn season by CBS.^[11] In September 2010, Sheridan made a Hallmark Channel film, Honeymoon for One, in Ireland, playing Eve Parker. The film premiered on 13 August 2011 on the Hallmark Channel.^[12]

[edit] Personal life

[edit] Relationships

From 1979 to 1985, Sheridan dated singer and actor Leif Garrett.^[13] Two decades later, Garrett credited Sheridan for helping him at the start of his career, and said of her "She's a special person in my life."^[14]

Sheridan was married to actor Harry Hamlin from 1991 to 1993.^[15] The pair had starred together in the 1990 TV movie Deceptions.

She began seeing Swedish personal trainer Nicklas Söderblom in 2004 and became engaged to him on New Year's Eve 2004; the pair called off the engagement in October 2005.^[16][17]

After her 2005 break-up with Söderblom, Sheridan returned to ex-boyfriend Michael Bolton, whom she had originally dated for five years starting in 1992. Sheridan and Bolton announced their engagement in March 2006.^[18][19] In 2006, Sheridan and Bolton sang a duet, "The Second Time Around", for the album Bolton Swings Sinatra.^[20] In March 2008, Sheridan posed naked for a London Fog charity ad which also featured Bolton.^[21] Sheridan and Bolton broke off their engagement in August 2008.^[19][22]

[edit] Lawsuit

On 5 April 2010, Sheridan filed a $20 million lawsuit against Desperate Housewives creator and producer Marc Cherry and ABC, alleging that she was assaulted by Cherry on the set of the show and was then fired when she reported the alleged abuse to the network. In her lawsuit, Sheridan claimed wrongful termination, assault and battery, gender violence, discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation and age, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She also claimed that Cherry was abusive to other cast members and writers. ABC responded in a statement saying that while they were unaware of this particular complaint, they had investigated similar claims made by Sheridan and reportedly found them to be without merit.^[23]

The stars of Desperate Housewives, (Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross and Eva Longoria), pledged their support to help Marc Cherry in his battle against assault allegations made by Sheridan.^[24][25][26] At the end of 2010, she removed abuse claims from the suit.^[27][28]

At a 3 May 2011 hearing, the judge granted permission for the case to continue to trial, but threw out Sheridan's claims of harassment.^[29][30][31] The judge also limited damages the actress may recoup if she wins at trial to just one year's pay rather than pay for the remainder of the show's run (which would have been three years after her character was killed off). The judge also forbade Sheridan and her attorney from trying to claim that Cherry was rude to other castmembers on the show, and also urged both parties to settle the case out of court due to the costs likely to be incurred.^[32] However, the parties failed to settle.

The case finally went to court on 27 February 2012.^[33] Sheridan's lawyer reiterated their claim that she was fired from the show after Cherry struck her across her head and she complained to ABC executives about the incident. Cherry claims that the alleged striking was in fact a tap to the head with his fingers, done in rehearsals when he was demonstrating to Sheridan how she should play a physical gag in a scene. He also stated that the decision to kill off her character was already approved in May 2008 (several months before the alleged hitting incident in September 2008) due, in part, to the need to reduce the show's budget. He also cited Sheridan's unprofessional on-set behavior (such as habitual lateness, not learning her lines, and feuding with her co-stars), and the fact that her character had simply "run its course" as other reasons for the decision.^[34] Sheridan was the first to take the stand, and was instructed to "calm down" by the judge after an angry outburst towards Cherry's lawyer on 2 March 2012.^[35] Cherry also took the stand, as did Desperate Housewives actor James Denton as well as various show producers, writers and ABC executives.

On 13 March 2012, the judge dismissed the battery charge against Marc Cherry due to lack of evidence, and Cherry was no longer a defendant in the lawsuit which then focused solely on Sheridan's alleged wrongful termination by ABC.^[36] Closing arguments were heard in the case on 14 March 2012 and the jury began their deliberations. By 19 March 2012, the twelve members of the jury had failed to reach a verdict and a mistrial was declared. A retrial was scheduled for September, but on 16 August 2012, the Los Angeles Court of Appeal determined that Sheridan had not been wrongfully fired and dismissed the retrial. In reaching its decision, the appellate court rejected various arguments by Sheridan, including her attempt to convince the appellate court that ABC’s decision not to renew her option for another season during Season 5 was analogous to at-will employment situation in violation of public policy. The appellate court reasoned that unlike an at-will employee whose contract could remain in force indefinitely, Sheridan’s contract was for a set term that had expired. ABC did not terminate Sheridan, but rather simply chose not to rehire her for another fixed-term contract.^[37] However, the court declared that Sheridan should be allowed to file an amended lawsuit alleging that ABC retaliated against her for complaining about unsafe working conditions.^[38] A further appeal made by Sheridan to the California Supreme Court was rejected on 16 November 2012.^[39]

Unlike the other main characters who had been killed off on Desperate Housewives, Sheridan did not make an appearance in the show's final episode which aired in May 2012.

Nicollette Sheridan is going back to trial on 2 December 2013.^[40]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nicollette Sheridan

• Nicollette Sheridan at the Internet Movie Database
• Nicollette Sheridan at AllRovi
• Nicollette Sheridan at Rotten Tomatoes