Nov. 30: Kaley Cuoco - "8 Simple Rules," "The Big Bang Theory" & "Growing Up Brady"-- is 25 today.

Kaley Christine Cuoco is best known for her roles as Bridget Hennessy on the sitcom 8 Simple Rules, Billie Jenkins on the supernatural drama Charmed, and presently as Penny on the popular sitcom The Big Bang Theory.

On The Big Bang Theory, she plays a character who moved to California from Omaha, Nebraska to pursue a career in acting. She is a waitress at The Cheesecake Factory. Her neighbors across the hall are Sheldon and Leonard (named for legendary TV icon, Sheldon Leonard.)

Sheldon and Leonard are "science nerds" but she becomes Leonard's girlfriend (played by Johnny Galecki who she DID date away from the set);  and Sheldon's foil.  

As part of a running gag on Big Bang, "Penny" and "Sheldon," played by Emmy winner Jim Parsons, sing the song, "Soft Kittee" to each other when they're sick. (See video below.)

In 2010 she broke her leg in a horse-riding accident and missed two episodes of the show.

 

Kaley was born in Camarillo, California. She began modeling and acting at age 6. Her first major role was in the 1992 TV movie Quicksand: No Escape. Her role as Maureen McCormick in the 2000 TV movie Growing Up Brady brought her a great deal of attention, as well as a role on the CBS sitcom Ladies Man.

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In 2004, in addition to her role on 8 Simple Rules where she played a a teenager named Bridget. While her character was the eldest child, Cuoco was six years younger than her on-screen little sister Amy Davidson. Her dad was played by the late John Ritter.

Kaley's character was portrayed as "the most beautiful girl in the school," and ran through lots of boyfriends. 


She also starred in 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.

Also in 2004, she began providing the voice of the character of Brandy Harrington on the Disney Channel's cartoon, Brandy and Mr. Whiskers. That same year, Cuoco co-starred in the movie The Hollow with Nick Carter and Kevin Zegers.

Autographed pictures from Amazon
 

In the eighth season of the hit cult TV show Charmed, Kaley's character was Billie Jenkins. At one point it was thought her character would become a spin-off.

She enjoys horseback riding, kickboxing, bowling, and playing the drums, and playing table tennis (known as ping-pong to most of us.) She was also a nationally ranked amateur tennis player, which she began playing when she was three years-old.

Kaley was named #77 on FHM

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