Background:

 American actress of television and film Ashley Peldon came to prominence as a child thanks largely to her portrayal of Marah Lewis on the popular soap opera “Guiding Light,” a role she played from 1988 to 1991. She took home a Young Artist Award, not to mention two additional Young Artist nomination, as well as a Daytime Emmy nomination for her performance. She continued to win Young Artist Awards for the made for television films “Child of Rage” (1992) and “Shameful Secrets” (1993) and to collect Young Artist nominations for her work in the television series “The Mommies” (1993-1995) and “The Pretender” (10 episodes, 1996-1999), the made for television films “Without Warning” (1994) and “The Westing Game” (1997), and the film “Cats Don't Dance” (1997). Peldon has made the transition from child actress into a young adulthood star. Her more recent film credits include “Skin Walker” (2004), “Night Skies” (2007), “Dimples” (2008) and “Float” (2008). She starred as Amy King in the short lived MTV series “Connected” (2007).

Peldon is married to Steve Hurdle.


Courtney's Sister

Childhood and Family:

Ashley Peldon was born on April 2, 1984, in New York City, New York. Her father, Jeffrey Peldon, is an attorney, while her mother, Wendy Peldon, is a college professor. She has an older sister named Courtney Peldon (born April 13, 1981), who is also an actress. In January 2007, Ashley graduated from Skidmore College in New York with a Bachelor's Degree in Child Psychology and a degree in Film.

In May 2010, Ashley was married to Steve Hurdle.             


Child of Rage

Career:

Ashley Peldon got her start as a child actress when in 1988, at the age of 4, she landed the role of Marah Lewis on the CBS daytime soap opera “Guiding Light.” Her performance as the daughter of favorite couple Josh and Reva Lewis received good response from viewers that she was subsequently put under contract on the show, making her the youngest entertainer to do so. In 1990, Peldon won a  Young Artist Award in the category of Best Young Actress in a Daytime Drama for her performance, and went on to receive two more nominations in 1991 and 1992. At age 6, Peldon was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series. This made her the youngest person ever to be nominated for the award. She left the series in 1991 after having worked for three years.

Peldon made her big screen debut as Sarah Frank in “The Lemon Sisters” (1989), starring Diane Keaton, Carol Kane and Kathryn Grody. The film, directed by Joyce Chopra and written by Jeremy Pikser, was both a critical and commercial disappointment. She next appeared as Jenny (age 3) in drama film “Stella” (1990), adapted from the 1920 novel “Stella Dallas” by Olive Higgins Prouty, and then as young Elizabeth in the cult favorite “Drop Dead Fred” (1991), which was directed by Ate de Jong and starred Rik Mayall and Phoebe Cates. She also portrayed Mary Saunders in the thriller movie “Deceived” (1991), starring Goldie Hawn and John Heard.

After guest starring as Molly Jeffers in an episode of the NBC sitcom “The Torkelsons” called “Return to Sender” (1991), Peldon made her television movie debut in “Day-O” (1992), opposite Delta Burke and Elijah Wood. There she played Grace at age 4. It was followed by a leading role as  the Catherine in the CBS made for television film “Child of Rage” (1992), opposite Mel Harris, Dwight Schultz and Sam Gifaldi. Delivering a bright performance as a sexually abused youngster, she was handed a 1993 Young Artist Award in the category of Best Young Actress Under Ten in a Television Movie. 1992 also saw Peldon guest star in “Bodies of Evidence” (as Claire Bowman) and begin her voice over gig in the animated television series “The Little Mermaid,” which she continued until 1994.

In 1993, Peldon landed the regular role of Kasey Larson in the NBC sitcom “The Mommies,” which was loosely based on the real life personas of Caryl Kristensen and Marilyn Kentz (aka The Mommies) as suburban neighbors and their families in Petaluma, California. She remained with the show throughout its two season run until June 1995. The show brought Peldon three Young Artist nominations in the categories of Outstanding Youth Ensemble in a Television Series, Best Youth Comedienne in a TV Show and Best Performance by an Actress Under Ten in a TV Series.        

While working on the series, Peldon also took other acting jobs. She appeared as Jessica Elroy in an episode of “Quantum Leap” called “ A Tale of Two Sweeties - February 25, 1958” (1993), was cast as Josie in the based on true story TV film “Shameful Secrets” (1993), from which she won a 1994 Young Artist Award for Best Actress Under Ten in a Television Series or Show, and worked with Sander Vanocur, Jane Kaczmarek and Bree Walker in the CBS TV film “Without Warning” (1994), where she was nominated for a 1995 Young Artist Award for Best Performance by a Youth Actress in a TV Mini-Series or Special for her portrayal of Kimberly Hastings. In the Andrew Lane directed TV film thriller “The Secretary” (1995), she played the role of Cindy Bradford.

After “The Mommies” departed the airwaves, Peldon portrayed Little Darcy in the TV film “Black Scorpion” (1995), opposite Joan Severance, worked with Alan Alda, Anne Archer, Lolita Davidovich and Mira Sorvino in the television film adaptation of Neil Simon's play, “Jake's Women” (1996), where she was cast as Young Molly, and guest starred in an episode of “Ellen” (1996). She returned to the big screen when she appeared as Jeffrey Jones and Frances Conroy's daughter on the film adaptation of Arthur Miller's play, “The Crucible” (1996), starring Daniel Day-Lewis as John Proctor, Winona Ryder as Abigail Williams, Paul Scofield as Judge Thomas Danforth, and Joan Allen as Elizabeth Proctor. Also in 1996, she landed the recurring role of Young Miss Parker in the very popular NBC television series “The Pretender,” a  gig she kept until 1999. She was nominated for Young Artist Awards for Best Performance in a Drama Series - Young Actress (1997) and Best Performance in a TV Drama Series - Guest Starring Young Actress (1999) for her performance.  

Peldon provided the voice of the main antagonist, Darleen “Darla” Dimple, the offensive and impolite human child star of Hollywood on the animated musical/comedy film “Cats Don't Dance” (1997), directed by Mark Dindal, and was nominated for a Young Artist  Award for Best Performance in a Voiceover - TV or Film - Young Actress for her effort. She again received a Young Artist nomination, this time in the category of  Best Performance in a TV Movie/Pilot/Mini-Series by a Leading Young Actress for playing the main character Tabitha Ruth/ Turtle/ Alice Wexler in the TV film “The Westing Game” (1997), adapted from the 1979 Newbery Medal winning novel of the same name by Ellen Raskin. After a guest stint in “Home Improvement” (1997), Peldon was cast alongside Raoul Trujillo, Barbara Pilavin and Billy Maddox in the film “Waking Up Horton” (1998), played Marissa DiMartino, the daughter of Amy Madigan, in the film “With Friends Like These...” (1998), starring Robert Costanzo, Jon Tenney, David Strathairn and Adam Arkin, and appeared in the Award winning short “Can I Play?” (1998), by Jim Katz. Her voice could be heard as Teen Raksha the Wolf in the direct to video animated film “ The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story” (1998). In 1999, she appeared as Alisha in the episode “Live Your Life” of “Chicken Soup for the Soul.”      

2001 saw Peldon guest star in television shows like “Tucker” (as Juliette), “That '70s Show” (2 episodes, as Kitty) and “Undressed” (as Tabitha). The same year, she also appeared with Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi, Brad Renfro, Illeana Douglas and Stacey Travis in the Terry  Zwigoff directed comedy/drama film “Ghost World,” based on the comic book of the same name and screenplay by Daniel Clowes. Following a three year absence, she returned to features when she co-starred with real life sister Courtney Peldon in the Rob Howard movie “Skin Walker” (2004).  

After taking another hiatus, Peldon co-starred with Jason Connery, A.J. Cook and George Stults in the horror/thriller series “Night Skies” (2007), helmed by Roy Knyrim. On the small screen, she starred as ill-natured actress Amy King on the television comedy series “Connected” (MTV, 2008), opposite Ray Galletti and Rashaan Cruzé. In the following year, she portrayed Brittany in the horror film “Dimples” (2008), opposite Carol Dennis, Ron Jordan and Reggie Lee, and was cast opposite Gregory Itzin, Hrach Titizian and Lauren Cohan in “Float” (2008),a  comedy/drama film directed and     written by Johnny Asuncion. In 2009, she contributed additional voice to the science fiction/comedy film “Aliens in the Attic,” directed by John Schultz. The film grossed $57,881,056 against a production budget of $45 million.
        

Awards:

Young Artist: Best Actress Under Ten in a Television Series or Show, “Shameful Secrets,” 1994
Young Artist: Best Young Actress Under Ten in a Television Movie, “Child of Rage,” 1993
Young Artist: Best Young Actress in a Daytime Drama, “Guiding Light,” 1990 Show Less