Stephanie Zimbalist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Stephanie Zimbalist | |
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| Born | October 8, 1956 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Years active | 1970s-present |
Stephanie Zimbalist (born October 8, 1956) is an American actress.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Born in New York City, New York, Zimbalist comes from a highly successful and renowned family. Her father is Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., the actor, her grandfather Efrem Zimbalist was a concert violinist, teacher and composer and her grandmother, Alma Gluck was a leading soprano. Her late step-aunt, Marcia Davenport was an author and historian.
Her paternal heritage is Jewish, though her father had converted to become an evangelical Christian. Stephanie's mother is Stephanie Spaulding Zimbalist. Zimbalist graduated from Foxcroft School in Middleburg, Virginia. She briefly attended the Juilliard School before commencing her acting career.
[edit] Career
Early television and movie appearances include Forever, The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal, The Awakening (with Charlton Heston) and The Golden Moment, in which she played a Soviet Olympic gymnast. She co-starred with her father, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., in the 1979 TV movie The Best Place to Be, which also starred the late, Oscar-winning actress Donna Reed.
Perhaps the most challenging early role for Zimbalist was that of Ellie Zendt in the mini-series of the James Michener epic novel "Centennial," first televised on NBC between October 1978 and February 1979.
Television audiences came to know the actress best as detective Laura Holt from Remington Steele (1982 to 1987). Pierce Brosnan was her co-star in the romantic comedy-mystery series.
In years to come, Zimbalist took leading roles in several television movies. She played the title role in the Emmy-award winning Caroline? in 1990. Zimbalist also was seen in episodes of the popular Touched by an Angel.
Her performances were not limited to the small screen. Zimbalist played opposite Tommy Tune in the touring stage musical My One and Only in the featured role of "Sylvia." She has made several appearances with the Rubicon Theatre Company in Ventura,California, and won a "Robby Award" for Best Actress in a Drama in The Rainmaker, staged by Rubicon in 2001.
More recently, Zimbalist has taken roles in plays concerning 19th century artists including Chopin, Tchaikovsky and Van Gogh. She has also released audio books including "The Girls" and "Queen of the Underworld". "The Girls" received a Listen-Up award in 2006.
Zimbalist can be seen in a 2006 documentary, "Christa McAuliffe: Reach for the Stars." She played the teacher-astronaut in the stage play "Defying Gravity."[1]
She has been a supporter of the Tennessee Williams Festival of New Orleans.
