‘MRS. WASHINGTON GOES TO SMITH’

CAST BIOS

CYBILL SHEPHERD (Alice Washington) – Few women in the past three decades have lit up the American imagination like actress, musician, author, producer and model Cybill Shepherd. From wholesome beauty queen to captivating cover girl, from heartbreaking movie star to one of television’s most beloved comediennes, from naïve sex kitten to liberated, political spokeswoman, Shepherd has tackled these roles with an indomitable spirit that has made her a female icon to an entire generation.

Born and raised in Memphis, Shepherd won Model of the Year in 1968 from Stewart Models and has appeared on the covers of Life, Vogue, Glamour and People, among others. She made her film debut in 1971 in the highly acclaimed “The Last Picture Show,” which led to starring roles in “The Heartbreak Kid,” “Daisy Miller,” “Taxi Driver,” “Chances Are,” “Texasville,” “Alice,” “Married To It,” “Once Upon a Crime” and “Marine Life,” just to name a few.

Shepherd has starred in three television series: “The Yellow Rose,” “Moonlighting,” for which she won three Golden Globe Awards and an Emmy® nomination, and the self-titled “Cybill,” for which she not only won a Golden Globe, but served as the show’s executive producer. Most recently, Shepherd starred in Showtime’s “Open Window” and portrayed Martha Stewart in both the NBC tele-film “Martha Stewart, Inc.” and “Martha Behind Bars” for CBS. Shepherd also portrayed the character of Phyllis Kroll in the Showtime original series “The L Word,” and has a recurring role on the hit USA series “Psych.”

Shepherd’s theatrical experience includes starring roles in Shot in the Dark, The Seven Year Itch, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Lunch Hour, Vanities and Picnic.

Shepherd started singing with her church choir at age eight, and began studying voice at 16. She has performed sold-out concerts around the world, blending rock, blues, ballad and standards as well as her own compositions. She has recorded eleven albums; her most recent, “At Home with Cybill,” was released in 2004 and is available on her website (www.cybill.com).

In 2000, she released her hilarious, gutsy and insightful memoir, Cybill Disobedience: How I Survived Beauty Pageants, Elvis, Sex, Bruce Willis, Lies, Marriage, Motherhood, Hollywood, and the Irrepressible Urge to Say What I Think, in which she tells her remarkable story as only she can, with humor, pathos and an insatiable lust for life.

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JEFFREY NORDLING (Professor Terry O’Neil) – Jeffrey Nordling has been acting professionally for more than 20 years. He received his MFA in Acting at Southern Methodist

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University and began his career on the stage both in New York and regional theaters. He recently starred in the seventh season of FOX’s “24” as Larry Moss, the head of the FBI field office with which main character Jack Bauer is working.

Nordling’s varied career includes the features “Surfer Dude,” “Hanging Out, Hooking Up, Falling in Love,” and “Pornstar,” as well as “Home of the Brave,” “Flicka,” “Quiz Show,” “Apollo 11,” “Ruby,” “Working Girl,” “Holy Matrimony” and “Mighty Ducks 3.” Television work includes HBO’s “And the Band Played On” and “Citizen Cohn,” “War Stories,” “Once and Again,” “Ask Me Again,” “Providence,” “Flight 93” and “Dirt.”

On stage, he was seen in the world premiere of Robert Schenkkan’s Lewis and Clark Reach the Euphrates at The Mark Taper Forum, and in Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out at The Geffen Playhouse. His other regional credits include work at the Old Globe in San Diego and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Nordling’s work on the New York stage includes Shakespeare in the Park, The Public Theatre and CSC.

Nordling is a proud member of the Screen Actor’s Guild and Actors Equity as well as The Antaeus Company, a classical repertory company in Los Angeles.

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CORRI ENGLISH (Zoe Burkis) – Born and raised by musician parents in Atlanta, Corri English’s first break happened during a technical difficulty at one of her father's concerts. At a loss, her father took English, at the ripe old age of four, and put her on an apple box. She proceeded to sing "I'm a Little Turtle," and the rest is history. She continued singing and performing not only for her father's band, but joined the Atlanta Workshop Players at the age of five (still the youngest member ever to be accepted) studying acting, dance and voice for well over a decade.

At 15, English was hired by Turner Broadcasting to host the show “Feed Your Mind,” an educational kids’ show that took her around the world for seven years. Later graduating summa cum laude from the University of Georgia, Athens, with a degree in Journalism, English continued her career in entertainment with steady work in voice-over and guest-player roles on shows such as “Dawson's Creek” and “One Tree Hill.”

Having studied voice with famed vocal producer Jan Smith, whose clients range from Usher to Rob Thomas, English was introduced through Jan to songwriters Kristen Hall and Kristian Bush, who were putting together a band called Sugarland. With Kristen and Kristian, she co-wrote “Fly Away,” which went on to be included on Sugarland's triple-platinum debut album, Twice the Speed of Life.

In 2002, English made the move to Los Angeles, and quickly landed the coveted role of Lydia

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Deets in the motion picture “Runaway Jury,” starring Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, and John Cusack. From there, she worked steadily in guest starring roles on such shows as “Joan of Arcadia,” “Without a Trace,” “CSI: Miami,” “Justice,” and “NCIS,” as well as numerous other television and independent films.

Continuing her success, English starred in the WB's Barry Levinson/Tom Fontana-produced “Bedford Diaries,” opposite Milo Venimiglia of “Heroes” and Penn Badgley of “Gossip Girl.” She was also the lead in the multiple award-winning horror-thriller “Unrest,” one of Lions Gate’s “8 Films to Die For.”

Along with fronting for the country duo BrokeDown Cadillac, whose music appears on the soundtrack to Disney’s “Race to Witch Mountain,” English had three films premiere in 2008: “Killer Pad,” a horror/comedy directed by Robert Englund, “Broken Windows,” by Tony Hickman, and the horror film “House of Fears,” directed by Ryan Little.

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