Jaime Pressly Movies and Career Information

Jaime Elizabeth Pressly (born July 30, 1977) is an American actress and model, best known for playing Joy on the NBC sitcom My Name Is Earl. She was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series in 2006 and 2007, winning the award in 2007. She has also been nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award in 2006; and for a Golden Globe Award in 2007. Pressly was born in Kinston, North Carolina, the daughter of James Liston Pressly and Brenda Sue (née Smith), a dance instructor. She has two siblings: sister Jessica and brother James Liston Jr. Pressly spent 11 years studying gymnastics and dancing. By age 14, she was the spokeswoman for her modeling agency "International Cover Model Search" and had begun to gain recognition for her modeling in the USA, as well as in Italy and Japan. Pressly attended Costa Mesa High School in California, where her mother had moved while her parents were going through the process of a divorce. Pressly subsequently sought and succeeded in having herself legally emancipated from her parents at the age of 15 so she could attend a modeling job in Japan; neither one of her parents could attend with her, so she had to be emancipated