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Less Than Perfect
Background:
Making her film debut at age 9 as Kevin Spacey's daughter and the
late Burt Lancaster's granddaughter in the dramatic film “Rocket
Gibraltar” (1988), Sara Rue would later be famous as Claudia
Casey, a television network employee, in the ABC sitcom "Less
Than Perfect" (2002-2006). She also played the roles of Edda
Pasetti, the teenage daughter to Pamela Reed's character who was
raised in a travel trailer, on the NBC half-hour sitcom "Grand"
(1990), and Carmen Ferrara, a pretty but unpopular girl, on the WB
teenage series "Popular" (1999-2001). She also had
recurring roles on "Phenom," "The Simple Life,"
"Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane," "The Division"
and "Two and a Half Men," as well as guest-starred in such
TV shows as "Roseanne," "ER," "Chicago
Hope," "Will & Grace" and "Mad TV."
On the wide screen, moviegoers could catch the 5' 7" actress
in the films "Passed Away" (1992), "Can't Hardly Wait"
(1998), "A Slipping-Down Life" (1999; she won a Special
Jury Prize at the Indianapolis International Film Festival), "A
Map of the World" (1999), "Pearl Harbor" (2001),
"Gypsy 83" (2001), "The Ring" (2002), "Idiocracy"
(2006) and "Man Maid" (2008). She will next be seen in the
upcoming films "Not Since You" and "For Christ's
Sake."
New York Native
Childhood and Family:
Daughter to Marc Schlackman, a stage manager, and Joan Rue, a
former actress who worked as the special assistant to the City
Council President of N.Y.C., Sara Schlackman was born on January 26,
1979, in New York, New York. The elder of two daughters, Sara
attended the Professional Children's School in New York. She was
taught to drive by Debra Jo Rupp and taught to juggle by Glenn Close.
In 2001, Sara married Mischa Livingstone, who is an avid poker
player (so is Sara). Sara and her husband have two dogs and two cats.
The couple filed for divorce in November 2007.
“I love gambling. I'm so happy that Bravo is feeding my
addiction. My husband's not thrilled about it but I'm psyched.”
Sara Rue (on her appearance in Bravo's “Celebrity Poker
Showdown”)
When she is not busy on set, Sara enjoys gardening and collecting
and playing vintage guitars.
Popular
Career:
At age nine, New York native Sara Rue, who spent most of her
childhood backstage with one or both of her parents who were very
active in the Broadway theatre community, began her own acting career
by appearing as Kevin Spacey's daughter (and as the late Burt
Lancaster's granddaughter) in director Daniel Petrie's dramatic film
“Rocket Gibraltar” (1988).
In the early '90s, she became a regular on the NBC half-hour
sitcom "Grand" (1990), playing Edda Pasetti, the teenage
daughter to Pamela Reed's single mother character who was raised in a
travel trailer. She then portrayed one of the grandchildren in
writer/director Charlie Peters' comedy "Passed Away"
(1992), starring Bob Hoskins, Jack Warden and William L. Petersen.
She also played a teenaged Roseanne in an episode of the hit ABC
sitcom "Roseanne" and had the recurring role of Monica on
the ABC tennis sitcom "Phenom" (1993-1994).
The mid '90s saw Rue as the spacey receptionist for a child
psychologist on the series "Minor Adjustments" (NBC, 1995;
UPN, 1996). She also appeared in the ABC TV-movie "Family
Reunion: A Relative Nightmare" and had a supporting role in the
CBS TV-movie "For My Daughter's Honor" (1996). She spent
the rest of the decade playing a recurring role on the short-lived
CBS sitcom "The Simple Life" (1998) and guest-starring as a
pregnant teenager about to deliver on a 1998 episode of the CBS
medical drama "Chicago Hope." She also returned to features
with a memorable role in Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan's romantic
teen comedy film "Can't Hardly Wait" (1998), with Jennifer
Love Hewitt, Ethan Embry, Charlie Korsmo, Lauren Ambrose, Peter
Facinelli and Seth Green.
After portraying the role of Crystal in "The Water Children"
play by Wendy MacLeod at the Matrix Theatre, in Los Angeles,
California, from April to June 1998, Rue was picked as a regular for
the WB teenage series "Popular" (1999-2001), playing Carmen
Ferrara, a pretty but unpopular girl who is initially rejected for
the cheerleading squad due to her weight but later becomes co-captain
of the Glamazons.
During her "Popular" stint, Rue acted in the odd
independent feature "A Slipping-Down Life" (1999; starring
Lili Taylor and Guy Pearce), Toni Kalem's film adaptation of Anne
Tyler's novel which won Rue a Special Jury Prize at the Indianapolis
International Film Festival. She was also featured as Sigourney
Weaver's cell mate in the acclaimed Scott Elliott's film version of
Jane Hamilton's 1994 novel "A Map of the World" (1999) and
appeared in the Lifetime original movie "Silent Hearts"
(1999; "Nowhere to Go"). She then played a recurring guest
role as the obnoxious wheelchair-bound teen Breeny Kennedy (1999) on
The WB's teen sitcom "Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane."
Additionally, Rue guest-starred as Joyce, the compulsive overeating
sister of Grace Adler (played by Debra Messing), on a 2000 episode of
the NBC sitcom “Will & Grace.” On the big screen, Rue
portrayed a nurse in Michael Bay's Academy Award-winning war film
"Pearl Harbor" (2001; starring Ben Affleck, Alec Baldwin,
Jon Voight, Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale, Cuba Gooding Jr., Dan
Aykroyd, Jaime King, and Jennifer Garner) and starred as Gypsy Vale,
a 25-year-old who idolizes rock singer Stevie Nicks, in Todd
Stephens' independent film "Gypsy 83" (2001).
Post "Popular," Rue starred as Claudia "Claude"
Casey, a television network employee who moved up in the secretarial
world of television news, in the ABC sitcom "Less Than Perfect."
The show that also stars Andy Dick, Sherri Shepherd, Andrea Parker,
and Zachary Levi began airing on ABC on October 1, 2002, and ended on
August 1, 2006.
“ABC has been nothing but supportive and wonderful. I think
their point is that people are sick of seeing women who are size two
on television and it's time we had someone who's a size eight
carrying a show.” Sara Rue
Following the demise of "Less Than Perfect," Rue had an
unaccredited role as an attorney general in the Mike Judge dark
comedy "Idiocracy" (2006; starring Luke Wilson and Maya
Rudolph) and portrayed Celeste in "Little Egypt," (May
2006) a musical by Gregg Lee Henry and Lynn Siefert at the Matrix
Theatre, in Los Angeles, California. She also appeared in two
episodes of the CBS sitcom starring Charlie Sheen, "Two and a
Half Men," and co-starred with Eliza Dushku and Ramon Rodriguez
in the TV movie "Nurses" (2007).
Rue was recently seen in the horror TV movie "Nightmare at
the End of the Hall" (2008) and in the comedy film "Man
Maid" (2008), written and directed by Chris Lusvardi. She will
soon complete her upcoming film projects, "Not Since You,"
a romantic drama by Jeff Stephenson featuring Desmond Harrington,
Kathleen Robertson, Christian Kane, Sunny Mabrey and Will Estes, and
"For Christ's Sake," a comedy by Jackson Douglas in which
she co-stars opposite Alex Borstein and Michael Hitchcock.
Awards:
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