House M.D.

Background:

“I was one of those people who was literally famous for doing nothing . . . I was always a part of the club scene in New York and eventually was able to produce my own musical about AIDS (“Positive Me”) because of the audience and press I received as a club kid. Eventually I was called in to screen test for this MTV show because word was out I was this neat club kid turned playwright. I got the job and basically was humiliated on the air every day. I'm an actor, not a hostess. It was horrifying. I had all this baby fat, so I was just HUGE on camera . . . I still can't watch one frame of the show. Then I got all this hate mail because I couldn't play the part right . . . Luckily the show got canceled after seven months. I was so relieved.” Lisa Edelstein

First gaining popularity for being something of a NYC “It” girl, actress Lisa Edelstein is best known for portraying hospital administrator Dr. Lisa Cuddy on the hit medical drama “House M.D.”(Fox, 2004-present), from which she picked up a Satellite Award in 2005. Prior to her award-winning performance, the multi-faceted player offered noteworthy recurring roles on TV series like “Seinfeld” (1993), “The West Wing” (1999-2000), “Ally McBeal” (2000-2001), “Felicity” (2001-2002) and “The Practice” (2003) and a regular role as lesbian Rhonda Roth on the ABC critically acclaim drama “Relativity” (1996-1997). She also appeared as a guest star in such popular series as “ER,” “Mad About You,” “Frasier” and “Family Law.” Edelstein has had small roles in several films, including Oliver Stone's “The Doors” (1991), “Love Affair” (1994), “As Good as It Gets” (1997), “Susan's Plan” (1999), “Keeping the Faith” (2000), “What Women Want” (2000), “Daddy Day Care” (2003), “Say Uncle” (2005) and “Grilled” (2006) and provided her vocals for such animated projects as “Superman: The Animated Series” (1996-1997) and “Justice League” (2003-2005), among others.

“The hardest part about being vegan is shoes. I mean, really, that's the only difficult part, finding shoes that don't have leather on them.” Lisa Edelstein

Edelstien is a vegan and an animal lover who now resides in Los Angeles with her cat, and three dogs, Sandwich, Wolf-E. and Bumpa. She has volunteered her time by supporting the animal sanctuary Best Friends. Edelstien is also a loyal practitioner of Ashtanga Yoga. Other interests include painting, music and writing.

“It” Girl

Childhood and Family:

Lisa Edelstein, nickname Lisa E., was born on May 21, 1966, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Alvin Edelstein, a pediatrician, and Bonnie Edelstein. She studied theater at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts. It was during her time at NYU that the brassy beauty gained notoriety as part of the city's nightlife circuits and was profiled in Cosmopolitan and The New York Times Magazine. In 1986, she even was dubbed by local press as a “top celebutante.”

Relativity

Career:

After making a stir in New York with her notorious tenure in the city's club scene, Lisa Edelstein built a reputation as an actress by appearing in many stage productions and benefiting her training from NYU, she co-penned, produced and starred in the AIDS-themed musical production “Positive Me,” which was debuted at New York City's LaMaMa Theatre in 1989. Her first TV gig arrived in the following year when she was hired as a host on the MTV morning show “Awake on the Wild Side” (1990), an ill-fated program that departed the airways before its first anniversary. Subsequently, she broke into the big screen with a bit part as a makeup artist in the Oliver Stone drama/music “The Doors” (1991), the story of the 1960s renowned and influential rock band and its lead vocalist and composer, Jim Morrison.

Edelstein followed it up with a series of one-episodic roles on TV series like “Mad About You” (1992), “L.A. Law” (1992), “Wings” (1993) and “The Larry Sanders Show” (1994), as well as a notable recurring role on the popular NBC sitcom “Seinfeld” (1993), in which she portrayed the foiled girlfriend of George Costanza, before making her next big screen outing in “Love Affair” (1994), a disappointing comedy/romance starring Warren Beatty and Annette Bening. In 1995, Edelstein landed a nine-episode role as the impolite Patty Karp on the unmemorable CBS sitcom “Almost Perfect,” a gig she held until 1997, and graduated to a series regular in the next year when she won the popular role of David Conrad's lesbian sister, Rhonda Roth, on the ABC brief-lived but critically praised drama “Relativity” (1996-1997).

The good-looking actress appeared as a documentarian naned Aggie Orton in a live episode of “ER” (1997) and Kristen Clark in the 1997 episode “Earthquake,” from the series “Cybill,” as well as had a cameo role as woman at table on the James L. Brooks-directed film “As Good as It Gets” (1997), which starred Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt. She also did voice-over work for the animated TV series “Superman,” where she voiced Mercy Graves, the bodyguard of Lex Luthor from 1996-1997, and the video game adaptation of “Blade Runner” (1997), as the voice of Crystal Steele.

After securing a regular gig on the series “In the Loop” (1998), opposite Patrick Breen and Joely Fisher, Edelstein made guest appearances in TV series like “Frasier” and “Just Shoot Me!” (both 1998), played Beth Sussman on the made-for-TV film “Indiscreet” (also 1998), starring Like Perry, and had supporting parts in three motion pictures released in that same year, including “I'm Losing You” and John Landis' “Susan's Plan.” In 1999, she portrayed Bobbi Bernstein in two episodes of ABC's “Sports Night” and started a recurring role on the NBC series “The West Wing,” where she played Brittany 'Laurie' Rollins, a law student dated by Sam Seaborn (played by Rob Lowe) until he discovers she moonlights as a call girl. She stayed with the highly-acclaimed drama series until 2000. 1999 also found the actress playing Danielle on the movie “30 Days” and starring in the TV movie “Legal Aid.”

Entering the new millennium, Edelstein was cast as the aerobics-haunted date of Ben Stiller in the comedy film “Keeping the Faith” (2000), which was helmed by Edward Norton, and supported Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt for Nancy Meyers' “What Women Want” (2000), but did not resurface until three years later in the the Eddie Murphy vehicle “Daddy Day Care” (2003), where she portrayed Crispin's mother. In between her film projects, she took on the memorable recurring roles on Fox's “Ally McBeal” (2000-2001), as James LeGros' transsexual boyfriend, and the J.J. Abrams-created series “Felicity” (2001-2002), as the girlfriend of Ben, Lauren. Besides, she appeared as Dr. Rachel Thompkins in an episode of “Family Law” (2001), costarred on the NBC mid-season replacement sitcom “Leap of Faith” (2002), in which she portrayed the best friend Patty, and acted in two TV films.

Edelstein continued to appear in such TV series as “The Practice” (2003, as the love interest of James Spider), “Without a Trace” (2003), “Judging Amy” (2004), “Miss Match” and also reprised her voice role of Mercy Graves on the cartoon series “Justice League” (2003-2005). However, the TV vet did not score huge breakthrough until she landed the starring role of Dr. Lisa Cuddy on the medical drama “House M.D.” (2004), which wet on to become a surprise hit on Fox Network. Starring opposite Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House, she was handed a 2005 Satellite for Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.

Aside from her TV series work, Edelstein still found time pursuing other projects. She teamed up with Bradley Whitford, Samantha Mathis and Aiden James Fort for the ensemble drama “Fathers and Sons” (2005, TV), played Sarah Faber on Peter Paige's feature directorial debut, “Say Uncle” (2005), appeared with Ray Romano, Kevin James and Sofía Vergara on the comedy film “Grilled” (2006) and starred as Linda Gottleib on the 17-minute short “My Lunch with Larry” (2007), directed by Barry Edelstein. She also had voice roles in episodes of “American Dad!” and “King of the Hill” (both 2007). Edelstein is set to play Maxine Carter on the upcoming TV film “Special Delivery” (2008), along side Brenda Song as Alice Vanlen and Robert Gant as Nate Spencer. The comedy is directed by Michael Scott and written by Matt Dearborn.

Awards:

• Satellite: Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, “House M.D.,” 2005