Biography
Courtney Thorne-Smith is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Alison Parker on Melrose Place, Georgia Thomas on Ally McBeal, Cheryl in According to Jim, and her recurring role on Two and a Half Men as Lyndsey McElroy.
She appeared on a few mid-1980s television series such as Growing Pains and the short-lived Fast Times, as well as made-for-television movies including The Thanksgiving Promise and Infidelity before landing a regular role in the short-lived sitcom Day by Day with Douglas Sheehan, Linda Kelsey and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. In 1990, she was featured in six episodes of L.A. Law as Laker Girl Kimberly Dugan.
Her first notable starring television role was as Alison Parker on Melrose Place from 1992 to 1997. During this time, in 1995, she starred in a made-for-television movie Beauty’s Revenge which was also marketed in CD and DVD form as “Midwest Obsession”. Following this, she went on to play Georgia Thomas on Ally McBeal from 1997 to 2000. Thorne-Smith originally auditioned for the title role in the show, which ultimately went to Calista Flockhart. Her character was written out of Ally McBeal at the beginning of season four in 2000, though she returned for occasional guest appearances afterwards.
From 2001 to 2009, she starred as Cheryl on According to Jim. In 2007, her real-life pregnancy was hidden on the show at first, but was then written into the plot. On February 18, 2010, she signed on to play Alan Harper (Jon Cryer)’s girlfriend, Lyndsey McElroy, in season seven of Two and a Half Men. She appeared in 52 episodes from season seven through twelve.
In the early 1990s, Thorne-Smith dated Andrew Shue, her on-screen lover from Melrose Place. In June 2000, the actress married geneticist Andrew Conrad; the couple divorced in January 2001.
On January 1, 2007, she married Roger Fishman, president of the marketing firm the Zizo Group and author of the book What I Know.
