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Nicollette Sheridan is a main actress on The CW's Dynasty, portraying the role of Alexis Carrington in season one and two.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Sheridan was born in Worthing, England, the daughter of actress Sally Adams, who gave birth to her at age 16. When Sheridan was less than a year old, her father left the family, and she has not seen him since.

In 1969, her mother Sally (billed as Dani Sheridan) featured in the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service as one of Blofeld's "Angels of Death". There, Sally met Blofeld actor Telly Savalas, who eventually became her de facto husband and Sheridan's stepfather. Sally became known as Sally Savalas.

Sheridan emigrated to the United States from the United Kingdom in 1973, when she was 10 years old.

Career[]

Sheridan began her career as a fashion model, appearing in the pages of Vogue and on the cover of Cosmopolitan, shot by Francesco Scavullo. Whilst still a teenager, she famously starred in a Martini TV commercial, delivering the beverage through the streets of LA on roller skates. In 1984, she made her acting debut in the short-lived ABC primetime soap opera Paper Dolls. The series was cancelled after half a season, and the following year, Sheridan starred in the romantic comedy film The Sure Thing. Later that year, she was cast in the pilot for another ABC prime time soap, Dark Mansions, intended to be a cross between Dynasty and Dark Shadows. The project did not go to series, but the pilot episode was aired as a television movie in 1986.

In 1986, Sheridan joined the cast of the CBS primetime soap opera Knots Landing as vixen Paige Matheson. She started in a recurring role, but had become a series regular by the 1988–89 season. Sheridan remained with the series for seven seasons until its end in 1993. 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's "50 Most Beautiful People".

In the 1990s, Sheridan starred in a number of television movies. In 1990, she starred in Deceptions and played Lucky Santangelo in the television adaptation of Jackie Collins' Lucky Chances. The following years, she had star-billed roles in Somebody's Daughter (1992), Time to Heal (1994), Shadows of Desire (1994), Virus (1995), Silver Strand (1995), The People Next Door (1996), Murder in My Mind (1997), Dead Husbands (1998), The Spiral Staircase (2000), Haven't We Met Before? (2002), Deadly Betrayal (2003), and Deadly Visions (2004). Despite her television lead roles, her film career was limited. In 1992, she co-starred opposite Carol Burnett and Michael Caine in the comedy Noises Off, and later had only two studio movies: Spy Hard (1996) opposite Leslie Nielsen, and Beverly Hills Ninja (1997) starring Chris Farley. Additionally, Sheridan auditioned for two leading sitcom roles, Rachel Green on Friends and Grace Adler on Will & Grace, though the respective roles ultimately went to Jennifer Aniston and Debra Messing. However, Sheridan did make a guest appearance opposite Messing in 2003.

In 2004, Sheridan was cast as Edie Britt in the ABC comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives. The character was originally written as a recurring role in the series. Sheridan had originally auditioned for Bree Van de Kamp, one of the series' more prominent roles. On November 15, 2004, Sheridan (in character as Britt) appeared with NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens in an introductory skit to that evening's Monday Night Football episode. Some observers condemned the skit as sexually suggestive, and ABC later apologized for airing it. On March 14, 2005, the Federal Communications Commission ruled that the skit did not violate decency standards, because it contained no outright nudity or foul language. Sheridan was nominated for a 2005 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film and was ranked number 48 on Maxim's 2006 Hot 100 List. In February 2009, during the show's fifth season, Sheridan announced her departure from Desperate Housewives. Her exit episode aired in April 2009, when Edie Britt was killed off. Unlike the other main characters who had been killed off over the years on Desperate Housewives, Sheridan did not make an appearance in the show's final episode, which aired in May 2012.

In 2010, Sheridan was cast in an untitled CBS comedy pilot as a mother who battles with her British ex-husband (played by Paul Kaye) to get her teenaged daughter to stardom, but the show was not picked up. In September 2010, Sheridan starred in the Hallmark Channel film, Honeymoon for One, which was set in Ireland. The film premiered on the Hallmark Channel on August 13, 2011. In 2013, she starred and co-produced another Hallmark movie, called The Christmas Spirit. In an interview in November 2013, Sheridan announced that she was hoping to find a network for a half-hour comedy series that she is currently writing herself. She also co-starred in two independent comedy movies, Jewtopia (2012) and Let's Kill Ward's Wife (2014). In 2016, she filmed one more Hallmark movie, called All Yours.

On November 28, 2017, it was announced that Sheridan was cast in The CW remake of Dynasty as Alexis Morell Carrington, a role played by Joan Collins in the original series. Mark Pedowitz, the president of The CW, who had been president of ABC Studios during Sheridan's run on Desperate Housewives, called her about the role himself. He said, "I was big fan of Nicollette from way back when. She wanted it, and she will be great in it." She received positive reviews for her debut as Alexis, and was promoted to series regular status for the second season. The CW announced on February 25, 2019 that Sheridan would be leaving Dynasty to focus on "some personal family responsibilities." Sheridan said in her own statement that she was leaving to spend more time with her terminally ill mother in Los Angeles. She last appeared in the episode "Motherly Overprotectiveness".

Personal life[]

During the 1980s, Sheridan dated teen idols Leif Garrett and Scott Baio. On September 7, 1991, she married actor Harry Hamlin, her co-star from the 1990 TV movie Deceptions. Hamlin filed for divorce on 21 August 1992, listing their date of separation as July 13. From July 1992 to September 1995, Sheridan dated singer Michael Bolton. She was then involved for three years with Australian Simon Main, a relationship that ended in 2000 when Main was sentenced to four years in prison for trafficking ecstasy.

She began dating Swedish personal trainer Nicklas Söderblom in 2004 and became engaged to him on New Year's Eve 2004; the pair called off the engagement in October 2005. In October 2005 Sheridan was on a five-day photo-shoot in Australia, and met with ex-boyfriend Main following his release from prison. That December, she rekindled her romance with Bolton. Sheridan and Bolton announced their engagement in March 2006. In March 2008, Sheridan posed nude for a London Fog charity ad which also featured Bolton. Sheridan and Bolton broke off their engagement in August 2008.

Sheridan married Aaron Phypers in December 2015, but the couple separated six months later. Their divorce was finalized in August 2018. Sheridan started her own range of skincare products in 2019, Biolumière Organics.

Appearances[]

Trivia[]

  • Sheridan did not watch the original Dynasty.[1]
  • Sheridan was friends with Jackie Collins, the sister of Joan Collins who portrayed Alexis in the original Dynasty, until her death in 2015.[2]
  • Sheridan previously worked with Grant Show (Blake Carrington) in the 1990 mini-series, Lucky Chances. Show played Marco, the lover of Sheridan's titular character, Lucky Santangelo.
    • In addition, original Dynasty cast members Michael Nader (Dex Dexter), Stephanie Beacham (Sable Colby), and Leann Hunley (Dana Waring) starred in the mini-series, respectively as Sheridan's onscreen godfather, stepmother, and rival.
  • Similarly to Joan Collins, Sheridan was is native British born. However, unlike Collins, Sheridan does not use an English accent for her portrayal of Alexis, who is written to be American.
  • It takes Sheridan about 15 minutes to go through hair and makeup.[3]
  • Sheridan previously worked with Dynasty costars Harriet Sansom Harris (Adriana) and Todd Sherry (Thurston) in ABC's Desperate Housewives.

Quotes[]

I have always been attracted to playing the naughty girl[...]And for some reason, my audience loves seeing me in that role. It's challenging to make that person likable, and I get to do it again [with Alexis].


Fallon Carrington is fierce, and upon mama's return, she has met her match tenfold[...]Alexis has the experience and the wisdom that comes with age. So as brilliant as her daughter is, she's in trouble now. [The writers] are really exploring the mother-daughter relationship, which to me is the most complicated relationship on the planet, so I love that.

Alexis truly is a loving mother[...]Just sometimes she gets a little lost in her quest for power or manipulation.
Nicollette Sheridan, via Entertainment Weekly (March 8, 2018).[4]
It's been a blast writing for Alexis, who in our version is part Mildred Pierce (willing to do anything to help her daughter), part Blue Jasmine (delusional on the verge of a nervous breakdown), and Nicollette is perfect for the role. When she goes toe-to-toe with Fallon, it's electric.
Sallie Patrick, via Entertainment Weekly. (March 8, 2018).[4]
She's going to do whatever she can to convince her children that she's looking out for their best interests[...]For Blake, his soulmate is back[...]They had and still have a tempestuous relationship, which speaks to their passion[...]My Alexis[...]is equally as cunning and devious."
Nicollette Sheridan talks playing a New Alexis, via TVInsider. (March 22, 2018)[5]
She's a complicated person who is driven by power, money, and the dichotomy of an overwhelming desire to protect her children to have them flourish[...]She is back to reclaim both of her children and help them onto a different path.


[Alexis] and Blake were truly soulmates at one point in time, but their relationship was fraught[...]They have a very tempestuous dynamic which speaks to the passion that’s still there."
Nicollette Sheridan on her Dynasty character, via Variety. (March 23, 2018)[6]

Multimedia[]

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External Links[]

References[]

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