Courtney Thorne-Smith

Courtney Thorne-Smith
Born	1966 or 1967 (age 56–57)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1986–2020
Spouses	Andrew Conrad ​ ​ (m. 2000; div. 2001)​ Roger Fishman ​ (m. 2007)​
Children	1

Courtney Thorne-Smith (born 1966 or 1967) is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Alison Parker on Melrose Place, Georgia Thomas on Ally McBeal, and Cheryl Mabel on According to Jim, as well as her recurring role on Two and a Half Men as Lyndsey McElroy.

Early life, family and education

Thorne-Smith grew up in Menlo Park, California, a suburb south of San Francisco. Her father, Walter Smith, was a computer market researcher, and her mother, Lora Thorne, was a therapist. They divorced when Courtney was seven years old, and she lived with both parents at different stages. She has an older sister, Jennifer, who is an advertising executive.

Courtney attended Menlo-Atherton High School, in Atherton, California, but she graduated from Tamalpais High School, in Mill Valley, California, in 1985. She performed with the Ensemble Theater Company in Mill Valley while attending high school.

Career

Films

Thorne-Smith made her first film appearance in the 1986 feature film drama Lucas, alongside Winona Ryder, Corey Haim, and Charlie Sheen. She was also involved in a number of movies in the late 1980s, such as Welcome to 18 (1986), Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise (1987), Summer School (1987), and Side Out (1990). In 1998, she starred in the box office flop Chairman of the Board with Carrot Top. In 2009, she appeared in Sorority Wars.

Television

She appeared on a few mid-1980s television series such as Growing Pains and the short-lived Fast Times, as well as made-for-television movies including The Thanksgiving Promise and Infidelity before landing a regular role in the 1988-1989 sitcom Day by Day with Douglas Sheehan, Linda Kelsey and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. In 1990, she was featured in six episodes of L.A. Law as Laker Girl Kimberly Dugan.

Her first notable starring television role was as Alison Parker on Melrose Place from 1992 to 1997. During this time, in 1995, she starred in a made-for-television movie Beauty's Revenge which was also marketed in CD and DVD form as "Midwest Obsession". Following this, she went on to play Georgia Thomas on Ally McBeal from 1997 to 2000. Thorne-Smith originally auditioned for the title role in the show, which ultimately went to Calista Flockhart. Her character was written out of Ally McBeal at the beginning of season four in 2000, though she returned for occasional guest appearances afterwards. She later said that she left the show in part because of the pressure to stay thin. "I started undereating, overexercising, pushing myself too hard and brutalizing my immune system," she told US Weekly. "The amount of time I spent thinking about food and being upset about my body was insane."

From 2001 to 2009, she starred as Cheryl on According to Jim. In 2007, her real-life pregnancy was hidden on the show at first, but was then written into the plot. On February 18, 2010, she signed on to play Alan Harper (Jon Cryer)'s girlfriend, Lyndsey McElroy, in season seven of Two and a Half Men. She appeared in 52 episodes from season seven through twelve.

Starting in 2017, Thorne-Smith has starred in a series of television films, the Emma Fielding Mysteries based on the novels by Dana Cameron. Three entries have been telecast on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel as of 2019.

Writing

On September 18, 2007, Thorne-Smith's novel, Outside In, was published by Broadway Books in New York.

Other ventures

In 1997, she became a spokesperson for cosmetics brand Almay, being the face of their new "Skin Stays Clean" line of make-up. She appeared for Almay's print ads and television commercials until 2001. In 2003, Thorne-Smith appeared on Kellogg's Special K cereal boxes as part of a breast cancer awareness campaign with Kelloggs and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

During her career, she has graced the cover of numerous magazines such as Shape, Parade, Self, InStyle Weddings, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, Vogue Knitting and Fit Pregnancy.

Personal life

In the early 1990s, Thorne-Smith dated her Melrose Place co-star Andrew Shue.

In June 2000, she married geneticist Andrew Conrad; the couple divorced in January 2001.

On January 1, 2007, she married Roger Fishman, president of the marketing firm the Zizo Group and author of the book What I Know. On January 11, 2008, she gave birth to their son, Jacob Emerson Fishman.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Welcome to 18	Lindsey
	Lucas	Alise
1987	Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise	Sunny Carstairs
	Summer School	Pam House
1990	Side Out	Samantha
1997	The Lovemaster	Deb
1998	Chairman of the Board	Natalie Stockwell
2005	Batman: New Times	Catwoman/Ms. Kitka Karenska	Voice, short film
2006	Whisper of the Heart	Shiho Tsukishima	English dub

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Fast Times	Stacey Hamilton	7 episodes
	The Thanksgiving Promise	Sheryl	Television film
1987	Growing Pains	Photography class student	Episode: "Nude Photos"
1988–1989	Day by Day	Kristin Carlson	33 episodes
1990	L.A. Law	Kimberly Dugan	6 episodes
	Anything but Love	Allison Andrews	Episode: "All About Allison"
1992	Jack's Place	Kim Logan	Episode: "Everything Old is New Again"
	Grapevine	Lisa	Episode: "The Lisa and Bill Story"
1992–1997	Melrose Place	Alison Parker	158 episodes
1994	Breach of Conduct	Helen Lutz	Television film
1995	Midwest Obsession	Cheryl Ann Davis
1996	Partners	Danielle	Episode: "The Year of Bob?"
1997	Duckman	Herself	Episode: "Bonfire of the Panties"
	Spin City	Danielle Brinkman	Episode: "Starting Over"
1997–2002	Ally McBeal	Georgia Thomas	69 episodes
1999	Partners	Gina Darrin	Episode: "Always..."
	Ally	Georgia Thomas	12 episodes
2000	Norm	Rebecca	Episode: "Norm and the Hopeless Cause"
2001–2009	According to Jim	Cheryl	182 episodes
2009	Sorority Wars	Lutie Parker	Television film
2010–2015	Two and a Half Men	Lyndsey McElroy	52 episodes
2016	Robot Chicken	Medical Examiner	Voice, episode: "Blackout Window Heatstroke"
2016–2017	Fresh Off The Boat	Anne	2 episodes
2017	Site Unseen: An Emma Fielding Mystery	Emma Fielding	Television film
2018	Past Malice: An Emma Fielding Mystery
2019	More Bitter than Death: An Emma Fielding Mystery
2020	Mom	Sam	Episode: "Beef Baloney Dan and a Sarcastic No"

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
1998	Screen Actors Guild	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (shared with rest of cast)	Ally McBeal	Nominated
1999				Won
2000				Nominated

External links

• Courtney Thorne-Smith at IMDb
• Courtney Thorne-Smith at AllMovie