Kaley Christine Cuoco born November 30, 1985) is an American film and television actress and singer. She is best known for her roles asBridget Hennessy on the sitcom 8 Simple Rules, Billie Jenkins on the supernatural drama Charmed, and Penny on the sitcom The Big Bang Theory.
Career:Cuoco began modeling and acting at age 6. Her first major role was in the 1992 TV movieQuicksand: No Escape. She is the third and youngest child of Jeanne Rose Cuoco, a first grade English teacher, and Stephen Michael Cuoco, a former engineer. Her role as Maureen McCormick in the 2000 TV movie Growing Up Brady brought her much attention, as well as a role on the CBS sitcom Ladies Man. In 2004, in addition to her role on 8 Simple Rules where she played a teenager, she had starring roles on the NBC miniseries 10.5, on the ABC Family original movie Crimes of Fashion, and in the independent film Debating Robert Lee. In 2000 she starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie Alley Cats Strike.
Cuoco was named #77 on FHM-Us’ 100 Sexiest Women in 2005 and #21 in 2008. She beganvoicing the character of Brandy Harrington on the Disney Channel’s cartoon, Brandy and Mr. Whiskers, later in 2004.
Cuoco played Bridget Hennessy on the ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules. Bridget was the eldest child, despite Cuoco being six years younger than her on-screen little sister (Amy Davidson), and was portrayed as “the most beautiful girl in the school.” She had several boyfriends throughout the series and used her feminine wiles to exert significant control over the boys she encountered.
In the eighth season of the hit cult TV show Charmed, Cuoco appeared as Billie Jenkins. Executive producer Brad Kern stated Kaley’s character was initially brought in as a possible spin-off. In 2004, Cuoco co-starred in the movie The Hollow with stars Nick Carter and Kevin Zegers.
In September 2007, Cuoco began a starring role in the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory. She plays Penny, a beautiful, down-to-earth aspiring actress and employee at The Cheesecake Factory who moves in next door to two nerdy scientists, Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki). In the show, she moved to California from Omaha, Nebraska, to pursue a career in acting. Prior to the 2010–2011 season, she earned $60,000 an episode for the series, the same as Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons. In 2010, the cast negotiated a raise for each actor to make $200,000 per episode.
Cuoco also starred in the Lifetime film To Be Fat Like Me which premiered on January 8, 2007. She also played a minor role in the Prison Break episodes “The Message” and “Chicago” as well as taking the leading female role in the horror movie Killer Movie in 2008.
Cuoco has landed two movie roles for 2010/2011. She had a supporting role in Hop and will play Wanda in The Last Ride. She has also been cast alongside Cam Gigandet, Penn Badgley, and Crystal Lowe in Darkness Falls, expected to be released in 2011. Cuoco will host the 2011 Teen Choice Awards.
