Stephanie Zimbalist

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephanie_Zimbalist

Stephanie Zimbalist (born October 8, 1956) is an American actress best known for her role as Laura Holt in the NBC detective series Remington Steele.

Background

Stephanie Zimbalist was born in New York City, the daughter of Loranda Stephanie (née Spalding) and actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. Although Zimbalist was born in New York, her family moved to Los Angeles where she grew up. She graduated from Foxcroft School in Middleburg, Virginia and briefly attended the Juilliard School before commencing her acting career.

Zimbalist's paternal grandfather, Efrem Zimbalist, was a world famous concert violinist, music teacher at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, and composer. Her paternal grandmother, Alma Gluck, born in Romania, was a leading soprano of her day. Zimbalist's aunt, Marcia Davenport, was a prominent author, music journalist and historian.

Television and Film Career

Stephanie Zimablist's early television and movie appearances include Forever, The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal, The Long Journey Back (TV 1978), The Awakening (with Charlton Heston), Tomorrow's Child (TV 1982) and The Golden Moment, in which she played a Soviet Olympic gymnast. She co-starred with her father, Efrem Zimbalist Jr, in the tragic 1979 TV movie The Best Place to Be.

Another early role for Zimbalist was that of Ellie Zendt in the mini-series Centennial, based on James Michener's epic novel of the same name, which was first televised on NBC between October 1978 and February 1979.

In her TV work, Zimbalist is best known in the TV role of female sleuth, Laura Holt, in the NBC series Remington Steele opposite Pierce Brosnan and Doris Roberts (1982 to 1987).

Since then, Zimbalist has taken leading roles in several television movies such as the Emmy-award winning Caroline? (1990) and some guest roles in television series such as Touched by an Angel.

Theater

Onstage, Zimbalist played opposite Tommy Tune in the touring musical My One and Only, taking the featured role of "Edith Herbert". She has made several appearances with the Rubicon Theatre Company in Ventura, California, winning the local critics' "Robby Award" for Best Actress in a Drama in The Rainmaker, at the Rubicon community theatre in 2001. Throughout the 2000s, Zimbalist took roles in plays concerning nineteenth-century artists including Chopin, Tchaikovsky and Van Gogh. In 2009 she portrayed actress Katharine Hepburn in Tea at Five.

Other work

Zimbalist has released audio books including "The Girls" and "Queen of the Underworld". "The Girls" received a Listen-Up award in 2006.

She appeared in the 2006 documentary "Christa McAuliffe: Reach for the Stars". She also played Christa McAuliffe in the play Defying Gravity.

Stage roles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephanie_Zimbalist#Stage_roles