Courtney Thorne-Smith Movies and Career Information

Courtney Thorne-Smith (born November 8, 1967) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Alison Parker on Melrose Place, Georgia Thomas on Ally McBeal, and Cheryl Mabel in According to Jim. She was born in San Francisco, California, and grew up in Menlo Park, a suburb south of San Francisco. Her father, Walter Smith, was a computer market researcher and her mother was a therapist. They divorced when she was seven years old, and she lived with both parents at different stages. She attended Menlo-Atherton High School, in Atherton, California, and graduated from Tamalpais High School, in Mill Valley, California, in 1985. She also performed with the Ensemble Theater Company in Mill Valley while attending high school. Thorne-Smith made her first film appearance in the 1986 feature film drama Lucas alongside Winona Ryder, Corey Haim, and Charlie Sheen. She was also involved in a number of movies in the late 1980s, such as Summer School (1987), Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise (1987), and Side Out (1990). She appeared on a few mid-'80s television shows such as Growing Pains and the short-lived Fast Times, as well as made-for-TV movies including The Thanksgiving