Bio
Nicollette Sheridan is a British actress best known for her television roles as Paige Matheson on Knots Landing (1986-1993), and as Edie Britt on Desperate Housewives, from 2004-2009.
Sheridan was born in Worthing, West Sussex, England to British actress Sally Sheridan (a.k.a. Sally Adams). Her great-grandmother was of Punjabi Indian descent.
Sheridan's biological father has never been identified and Sheridan has said that she considers her mother's late ex-boyfriend, actor Telly Savalas, her father. Her half-brother, Nick Savalas, is his son. She attended school at Millfield in Somerset.
Sheridan made her debut in Paper Dolls, but her breakthrough came in 1986 when she joined the cast of the CBS night-time soap Knots Landing, as Paige Matheson. She started out as a recurring role, but proved to be so popular that she was a regular during the 1988-89 season.
For her performance in the role, she won the 1990 Soap Opera Digest Award for "Outstanding Lead Actress: Prime Time" and the 1991 Soap Opera Digest Award for "Outstanding Heroine: Prime Time".
The same year, she was named one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People."
After the series ended in 1993, she appeared in several made-for-TV movies and the films Spy Hard and Beverly Hills Ninja and auditioned for the role of Grace Adler on Will & Grace (on which she would later guest-star).
In 2004, Sheridan's role as sexy divorcee Edie Britt in ABC's Desperate Housewives brought her renewed media attention. She was nominated for a 2005 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and was named #48 on Maxim's 2006 List.
Less positively, she was named 2004's "worst dressed" by Mr. Blackwell. Mr. Blackwell's citation probably resulted from the colourful and boldly-cut gown Sheridan wore as a presenter at the American Music Awards on November 14, 2004 but he had earlier (TV Guide, July 22,1989) praised her fashion "daring ... with her panache, she brings it off without a hitch. For the adventurer in all of us, she's the one to watch".
She also faced media speculation that she had undergone extensive plastic surgery.
On November 15, 2004, Sheridan was cited by the FCC for her appearance in a sketch that opened the evening's Monday Night Football broadcast. The Desperate Housewives-inspired sketch showed Sheridan dropping a towel to attract football player Terrell Owens attention who then said "ah hell" was widely condemned as being sexually suggestive.
ABC was forced to apologise for airing it but the citation against Sheridan was dropped on March 14, 2005. A week later, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) aired an also controversial parody showing WWE Diva Trish Stratus dropping her towel to attract WWE Superstar Shelton Benjamin, but being caught in the act by the company's chairman, Vince McMahon.
Todd Schnitt of radio station WFLZ-FM in Tampa, Florida, placed an early-morning telephone call to Sheridan on November 18, 2004, waking her to discuss the Monday Night Football controversy (which had come to be called "Towelgate").
On January 30, 2007, the FCC levied a $10,000 fine because the station violated regulations in failing to inform Sheridan that the interview was being broadcast.
From 1979 to 1985, Sheridan dated then teen-idol Leif Garrett. They began dating when she was 15 and she lived with him in his mother's home while still a minor. As an adult, Sheridan was involved in an unsuccessful attempt to end Garrett's drug abuse.
Sheridan was married to actor Harry Hamlin from September 7, 1991 to 1993. Because the marriage lasted exactly two years (the amount of time required for an American citizen's spouse to receive permanent residency), it was rumoured to be a "green card" marriage.
However, this is unlikely, as both Savalas and CBS could have sponsored her for any necessary visas without her needing to resort to a false marriage.
From January to October 2005, Sheridan was engaged to Swedish personal trainer, Nicklas Söderblom. After their break-up, Sheridan returned to ex-boyfriend Michael Bolton, to whom she became engaged in March 2006.