Kaley Christine Cuoco (born November 30, 1985¹) is an American television actress, perhaps best known for her role as Bridget Hennessy on the ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules.² She is also known for her role as Billie Jenkins on the CW hit series Charmed, and currently stars as Penny³ on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory with Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons.¹²

Biography

Early life

Cuoco (Italian for cook) was born in Camarillo, California,² to Gary Carmine Cuoco, an Oxnard, California realtor, and Layne Ann Wingate, a homemaker. She also has a younger sister named Briana. She was home schooled on the set and earned her High School Diploma at the age of 16. She had many pets, including a Jack Russel called Raquel.

Career

Cuoco has been a model and commercial actress since the age of 6. Her first major role was in the 1992 TV movie Quicksand: No Escape. 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 she has 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 #78 on FHM-Us' 100 Sexiest Women in 2005.¹ She began voicing the character of Brandy Harrington on the Disney Channel's cartoon, Brandy and Mr. Whiskers, later in 2004. Recently, Kaley has lent her voice for Elena Potato, a main character on the Kids' WB, Disney Channel Asia show, Monster Allergy.

In 8 Simple Rules, she was the eldest child and was portrayed as "the most beautiful girl in the school": she had several boyfriends and could convince any boy to do anything. Her younger sister Kerry was played by Amy Davidson. Cuoco also appeared in an episode of Punk'd.

In the eighth season of the hit TV show Charmed Cuoco appeared as Billie Jenkins, a new witch who was searching for her lost sister. Executive producer Brad Kern stated that Kaley's character was initially brought in as a possible spin-off. In 2004, Cuoco co-starred in the movie The Hollow with stars Nick Carter and Kevin Zegers.

In fall 2007, Cuoco began a starring role in the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory. She plays Penny, a beautiful and down-to-earth Cheesecake Factory employee that moves next door to two nerds, Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki). In the show, she moved to California from the Mid-West to chase a career in acting.

Kaley has also starred in the recent Lifetime movie To Be Fat Like Me which premiered on January 8, 2007.⁴ She played a minor role in the Prison Break episode "The Message", and in the subsequent episode Chicago.

She was a nationally ranked amateur tennis player, a hobby she took up when she was 3 years old,⁵ until she switched to acting full time with 8 Simple Rules in 2002. She was listed as a vegetarian in a 2008 PETA press release,⁶ but has said that she does not commit fully to vegetarianism.

Selected filmography

Personal life

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (October 2008)

Kaley currently lives in San Fernando Valley, California with her German Shepherd, "Duke," and her Chihuahua-Dachshund mix dog, "Petey."

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Biography for Kaley Cuoco". Biography for Kaley Cuoco. Retrieved on 2008-01-25.
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Kaley Cuoco". Kaley Cuoco. Retrieved on 2008-01-25.
3. ^ www.celebritywonder.com/html/kaleycuoco.html
4. ^ "Movies - To Be Fat Like Me". lifetimetv.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-18.
5. ^ Askmen.com profile
6. ^ The 2008 World's Sexiest Vegetarians Are… // Out There // peta2

External links

• Kaley Cuoco at the Internet Movie Database
• Kaley Cuoco (Actress Page) at Facebook
• Kaley Cuoco at MySpace
• Kaley Cuoco at TV.com