Lisa Edelstein

Infobox actor
colour = #d6d6ff
name = Lisa Edelstein


caption = Lisa Edelstein, September 2007.
birthname =
birthdate = birth date and age|1966|5|21
location = Boston, Massachusetts, USA
height = 5'6"
notable role = Dr. Lisa Cuddy in "House"
Rhonda Roth in "Relativity"
academyawards =
spouse =

Lisa Edelstein (pron-en|ˈliːsə ˈɛdəlstiːn "LEE-suh EDDLE-steen"; born May 21 1966) is an award-winning American actress and playwright. She currently stars as Dr. Lisa Cuddy on the critically acclaimed drama "House".

Biography

Early life

Lisa Edelstein was born to Jewish parents Alvin and Bonnie Edelstein in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Her father is a pediatrician in New Jersey at Chilton Memorial Hospital. One of three children, she was raised in Wayne, New Jersey and attended Wayne Valley High School, graduating in 1984. [Rohan, Virginia. [http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxOTMmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTcxNTE5NDcmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3 "North Jersey-bred and talented too"] , "The Record (Bergen County)", June 18, 2007. Accessed June 25, 2007. "Lisa Edelstein: Class of 1984, Wayne Valley High School"] She moved to New York City at the age of 18 to study theatre at New York University's Tisch School of the Fine Arts. While living in New York, she became involved in the club scene known only as "Lisa E.", and caused enough of a stir in the community to be dubbed New York City's "Queen of Downtown" by writer and fellow celebutante James St. James, who briefly refers to Edelstein in his 1999 book "Disco Bloodbath".

Career

After being dubbed a "celebutante" by "Newsweek" magazine during her club kid days James St. James. "Party Monster". Simon & Schuster, 2003.] , Edelstein used her newfound celebrity to write, compose and star in an original musical called "Positive Me" in response to the growing AIDS crisis of the 1980s. After a brief stint hosting "Awake on the Wild Side" for MTV in 1990, she spent the early '90s appearing in guest roles on several popular comedies, including "Mad About You", "Wings", "The Larry Sanders Show" and "Seinfeld", where she played George Costanza's frustrated girlfriend.

Bigger roles in TV dramas soon followed, among them the lesbian sister on ABC's "Relativity" in 1996; Rob Lowe's date turned high-priced call girl on "The West Wing" in 1999; a male-to-female transsexual on "Ally McBeal" in 2000 and Ben's girlfriend on "Felicity" in 2001. She also continued to land guest star spots on shows such as "ER", "Frasier", "Just Shoot Me", "Without a Trace" and "Judging Amy".

The actress has lent her voice to several animated programs including "King of the Hill", "American Dad", "" (as Mercy Graves, Lex Luthor's bodyguard, a role she later reprised in several episodes of "Justice League") and the 1997 video game adaptation of "Blade Runner". Edelstein's film credits include "What Women Want" with Mel Gibson, "Keeping the Faith" with Ben Stiller, "As Good as it Gets" with Jack Nicholson & Helen Hunt and "Daddy Day Care" with Eddie Murphy.

In 2004, she was cast as Dr. Cuddy, the Dean of Medicine at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital and frequent character foil to title character Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) on FOX's hit show "House, M.D.".

She will star in Lifetime Movie Network's "Special Delivery" alongside Brenda Song. [Kimberly Nordyke (January 15, 2008) [http://www.reuters.com/article/televisionNews/idUSN1555841620080116 House actress making "Delivery" for Lifetime] "Reuters". Accessed 2008-01-16.]

Personal life

Edelstein currently resides in a home built in 1913 in Los Angeles with her cat and three rescue dogs. [http://www.thepetpress-la.com/articles/lisaedelstein.htm The Dean of Medicine on TV’s House Is Often Called The Florence Nightingale of Dogs] - March 2006] She is a vegetarian [http://www.bullz-eye.com/television_reviews/interviews/2006/lisa_edelstein.htm A Chat with Lisa Edelstein] - September 4 2006] and an avid practitioner of Mysore style Ashtanga Yoga [ [http://www.iyogalife.com/cms/publish/article_335.shtml Mysore style Ashtanga Yoga] ] . She frequently volunteers for the Best Friends Animal Society. In her spare time she enjoys writing, painting and composing music. [http://www.fox.com/house/bios/lisa.htm FOX.com Biography] ]

elected filmography

Selected films

Selected television

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0249046

Persondata
NAME = Edelstein, Lisa
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = American actor
DATE OF BIRTH = May 21 1966
PLACE OF BIRTH = Boston, Massachusetts United States
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =