Made acting debut at age eight, featured in her dentist's industrial film "My First Mouthpiece" (date approximate)

Signed with an agent at age 14 (date approximate)

Trained at Chicago's Victory Gardens Theater, performing in productions including "A Chorus Line", "Pippin" and "The Lion in Winter"

Made feature film debut with a small role in "Touch and Go"

Played conniving teenage prostitute Eve on the daytime drama "Days of Our Lives" (NBC); first collaboration with Charles Shaughnessy; received two Daytime Emmy nominations

Starred as a young woman accused of murder in the the NBC TV-movie "She Says She's Innocent"

Guest starred on episodes of "Empty Nest" (NBC), "Drexell's Class", and "Married... With Children" (both Fox)

Put her singing skills to use as a regular on the Fox musical series "The Heights"

Acted in a challenging cameo role as a heroin addict in the independent crime drama "Love and a .45"

Was a regular on the CBS comedy "The Five Mrs. Buchanans", playing the wife of the last Buchanan son to marry

Appeared in the Canadian feature "Savage Land" and the US-French co-production "Foreign Student"

Had a two-episode recurring role on "Murder One" (ABC)

Gave a memorable performance in a guest role as an AIDS-infected alcoholic on NBC's "ER"

Starred in the NBC TV-movies "A Kiss So Deadly" and "Fall Into Darkness", the former pairing her romantically with her "Days of Our Lives" father Charles Shaughnessy

Played a gold-digging young trophy wife on the inane Fox sitcom "Pauly"

Had a recurring guest role as the wife of a police officer suspected of murder on "NYPD Blue" (ABC)

Starred on the short-lived NBC series "Trinity" as a successful stockbroker with a troubled personal life

Played a hippie political activist from a long line of progressive women in the NBC miniseries "A Will of Their Own"

Starred as a young woman abducted at sea in the USA Network thriller "Kidnapped in Paradise"

Played an ambitious vice president of development for a struggling network on the Showtime TV series "Beggars and Choosers"

Appeared in the quirky romantic comedy "Looking For Lola", which premiered on Showtime

Was cast as the female lead in "NYPD Blue"