Lisa Edelstein Movies and Career Information

Lisa Edelstein (pronounced /ˈliːsə ˈɛdəlstiːn/; born May 21, 1966) is an American actress and playwright. She currently stars as Dr. Lisa Cuddy on the television drama House. Edelstein was born to a Jewish family in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of Alvin and Bonnie Edelstein. Her father is a pediatrician in New Jersey at Chilton Memorial Hospital. The youngest of three children, she was raised in Wayne, New Jersey. Edelstein attended Wayne Valley High School, graduating in 1984. She moved to New York City at the age of 18 to study theatre at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. While living in New York, she became involved in the club scene (known there only as "Lisa E.") and caused enough of a stir in the community to be dubbed New York City's "Queen of Downtown" by writer and fellow celebutante James St. James, who briefly refers to Edelstein in his 1999 book Disco Bloodbath. At 16, Edelstein was a cheerleader for Donald Trump's New Jersey Generals. Edelstein soon encountered trouble when she organized a protest, because the team was forcing the cheerleaders to go and stand in bars while wearing their uniforms. Lisa said she felt this was "akin to prostitution"