Courtney Thorne Smith aka Courtney biography

Courtney Thorne Smith is an American actress best known for her small screen roles of Alison Parker on Melrose Place, Georgia Thomas on Ally McBeal, and Cheryl on According to Jim. While the first two shows are legends of the television world, she’s now working with “the unfunny Belushi.”

Courtney was born in San Francisco, and grew up in Menlo Park, a nearby suburb. Her father was a computer researcher, Walter Smith, and her mother was a therapist. The couple divorced when Courtney was seven-years-old, setting up the requisite broken home which could drive their child into a career in theater arts. Courtney attended high school in the Bay Area, at Tamalpais High, where she graduated in 1985. During that time she performed with the Ensemble Theater Company in Mill Valley.

One year out of high school, Courtney made her first feature film appearance in Lucas, alongside fellow newcomer, Winona Ryder. Both women are from the Bay Area, and both appeared in this film at the start of their careers. Was there something being put in the water up there in the early ‘80s or what? Courtney went on to land roles in a host of other critically disrespected films in the late ‘80s, including Summer School (1987), and Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise (1987). It was in the early ‘90s when Courtney segued into television that she really made her mark, however. She landed the part of Alison Parker on Melrose Place and played her from 1992-1997. Next up, Courtney was on Ally McBeal from 1997-2000.

Courtney’s success in television cemented her celebrity, and even made her Carrot Top-proof. Yes, Courtney starred in Carrot Top’s train wreck of a feature film, Chairman of the Board, in 1998. Whoops! Courtney, what were you thinking? Courtney can now be seen in the Belushi-driven sitcom According to Jim, and has recently completed a novel based on her own life (we’re not sure of the title, but hopefully she’s staying away from “Being Hot and Making Bad Choices in Big Screen Projects.”)