Award-winning American actress Courtney Thorne-Smith was born on November 8, 1967 in San Francisco, California. She started acting during her high school years, performing with the Ensemble Theater Company while studying. She made her feature film debut in 1986, when she starred alongside Winona Ryder, Corey Haim and Charlie Sheen in the teen tragicomedy Lucas.
Thorne-Smith has since guest starred in different television shows like Growing Pains, Anything but Love and Grapevine. In 1988, she took her first regular television role, in the short-lived sitcom Day by Day. She played the role of Kristin Carlson, the nanny of the baby of Brian and Kate Harper (Douglas Sheehan and Linda Kelsey). She had a recurring guest role in the legal drama L.A. Law. But her first notable television role came in 1992, when she joined the cast of Melrose Place as advertising firm receptionist Allison Parker.
Thorne-Smith then joined the cast of the hit television series Ally McBeal. She played the role of Georgia Thomas for the first three seasons; she also appeared in the short-lived spin-off series, Ally. Afterwards, she left the show because she felt pressured to be thin that she was scared it would threaten her health. Nevertheless she became a recurring character, and made occasional appearances. As part of the show’s cast, she won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in 1998.
In 2001, Thorne-Smith joined the cast of According to Jim, the comedy which topbills Jim Belushi. She played the gorgeous wife of the title character, Cheryl, who often teams up with her sister Dana (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) against her husband’s frequent bouts with laziness. The show became successful and slowly grew an audience despite competition from other sitcoms.
Thornep-Smith has also ventured into writing. Her novel, Outside In, was published in 2007.