Sheila Kelley

A talented, poised and pretty young performer of film and TV since the late 1980s, Sheila Kelley turned to acting after a congenital hip condition dimmed her hopes for a career as a professional dancer. Spontaneous yet disciplined, Kelley has received good notices in both comedies and dramas. She was widely seen in a recurring role as cunning legal secretary Gwen Taylor late in the run of the popular legal drama "L.A. Law" (NBC, 1990-93). For the final season of the NBC drama "Sisters" (NBC, 1995-96), Kelley assumed the role of Charley from actress Jo Anderson.

Kelley first registered on screen in "Some Girls" (1988) as the eldest of three beautiful sisters who get intimate with Patrick Dempsey. She soon followed with a small part in "Staying Together" (1989), actor-director Lee Grant's comedy-drama of small-town family life. Substantial supporting roles followed in Bill Forsyth's quirky Burt Reynolds vehicle "Breaking In" (1989), as the poetic call girl/girlfriend ("What would I do with your balls were they mine?") of Casey Siemaszko, and in John Boorman's underrated "Where the Heart Is" (1990), as a grad student going for a masters in paranormal religion. Kelley also fared well amid the bright young ensemble of "Singles" (1993), as a lovelorn woman.