| Cynthia Watros |
Watros in Iraq, 2008 |
| Born |
Cynthia Michele Watros
September 2, 1968 (1968-09-02) (age 41)
Lake Orion, Michigan, U.S. |
| Occupation |
Actress |
| Years active |
1994 – present |
| Spouse(s) |
Curtis Gilliland |
Cynthia Michele Watros (born September 2, 1968) is an American television actress, who also starred in films and on stage. She is best known for her roles as Libby on the ABC TV series Lost, Kellie in The Drew Carey Show, Erin in Titus, and Annie Dutton in Guiding Light. She was born in Lake Orion, Michigan.
Career
Early stage career and education
Graduating from Lake Orion High School, Watros attended Macomb Community College. She transferred to Boston University and graduated with a BFA, and like many, headed to New York City to seek fame. She was cast as Agnes Gooch in a Broadway musical theatre production of Auntie Mame. She also appeared as one of the Pigeon Sisters in The Odd Couple with Llama Productions.
Daytime television
Watros initially became known for her role as Annie Dutton on the CBS soap opera Guiding Light from 1994 to 1998. Her character, a nurse, began as a heroine, but she gained notice and critical acclaim when her character's rivalry with Reva Shayne (played by Kim Zimmer) led her to become a scheming villainess. In 1998, Watros won a Daytime Emmy Award as "Outstanding Lead Actress" for her role on Guiding Light.
In 1998, Watros briefly filled in for Jensen Buchanan as Victoria Hudson McKinnon on Another World while Buchanan was on maternity leave.
Primetime television
Watros is also known for several primetime television roles.
- She appeared as Erin Fitzpatrick from Santa Maria California on Titus from 2000 to 2002 and gained recognition as a comedic actress, playing the real-life fiancée of the title character. According to the DVD commentary, Erin was originally supposed to be more like Tommy in the series (worrysome, neurotic), and Tommy was supposed to be more like how Erin was (strong, supportive). The characters' personality changes were made a week before the pilot was shot.
- After Titus was canceled, she took on the role of Kellie Newmark on The Drew Carey Show, as a replacement for the departure of Christa Miller. Watros played the role from 2002 to 2004. As a welcoming gesture, Drew Carey sent flowers to her on a weekly basis.
- From 2005 to 2006, she was a cast member on the hit ABC series Lost. She played psychologist Libby, a member of the "Tailies", a group of survivors of the plane crash who were in the tail section of the plane (and not seen during Season One). Towards the end of the season (in the episode ?), Libby was shot and killed by Michael Dawson (played by Harold Perrineau) along with Ana Lucia Cortez (played by Michelle Rodriguez). She has returned to the show as a guest star occasionally since her departure, in flashbacks and as a vision/hallucination of other characters, mainly by the character Michael (Perrineau).
After her departure from Lost, Watros filmed a pilot for a show titled My Ex-Life for CBS. She was slated to play the ex-wife of a character played by Tom Cavanagh. However, the pilot was not chosen by CBS. 1. Watros was also the lead in The Rich Inner Life of Penelope Cloud, a 2007 CBS television pilot. "Penelope" was a comedy about a former literary genius who has an awakening and decides to pursue optimism instead of cynicism. The pilot was created by Jeff Greenstein and also featured Marisa Tomei.
She also filmed a pilot for Valley Girls, a spin-off of the CW series Gossip Girl set in the 1980s. Watros plays CeCe Rhodes, the socialite ex-wife of Rick Rhodes, played by Andrew McCarthy, and mother of the series' protagonists. Valley Girls has not been picked up for CW's fall schedule but remains in contention for midseason.
In an episode of the hit USA series In Plain Sight called "A Stand-Up Triple" and aired May 3, 2009, she guest starred as a mother of three children in the witness protection program.
Personal life
Watros overcame a serious disease as a teenager; she was diagnosed with Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, an autoimmune disease of the blood. It required several years of chemotherapy and a splenectomy. In an interview in the Season 3 DVD of Titus, she stated that she had lost her hair and gained over 100 pounds as a result of this disease.
Watros has had a complicated history with Guiding Light co-star Kim Zimmer. Zimmer and Watros met and became friends when they co-starred in an off-Broadway show, Four Dogs and a Bone by John Patrick Shanley. Although there is no long-standing rivalry, working in close quarters apparently caused a serious rift between them when they both appeared on Guiding Light. In particular, a physical altercation between the two actors was captured on tape during filming of a Guiding Light episode.
Watros is married to Curtis Gilliland and has twin daughters, Emma Rose Marie and Sadie Anna Marie (born July 14, 2001).
Arrest
Watros and her Lost co-star Michelle Rodriguez were each arrested on the morning of December 1, 2005 in Kailua, Hawaii, where Lost is filmed.2 Police said both women failed field sobriety tests and were released on $500 bail each.3 Five months later, both characters in the show were killed in an episode called "Two For The Road", leading some critics to speculate that it was punishment for their arrests. Rodriguez and the producers have denied this, saying it was to be so from the start.4
References
External links
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Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series |
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Kim Zimmer, Guiding Light (1990) · Finola Hughes, General Hospital (1991) · Erika Slezak, One Life to Live (1992) · Linda Dano, Another World (1993) · Hillary B. Smith, One Life to Live (1994) · Erika Slezak, One Life to Live (1995) · Erika Slezak, One Life to Live (1996) · Jess Walton, The Young and the Restless (1997) · Cynthia Watros, Guiding Light (1998) · Susan Lucci, All My Children (1999)
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