About Courtney Thorne-Smith: How She Overcame Her Eating Disorder

 

Who is Courtney Thorne-Smith?

American actress Courtney Thorne-Smith was born in San Francisco, California USA, under the Scorpio her zodiac sign on 8 November 1967. She’s had roles in 36 TV series and movies, and is perhaps still known best for playing Georgia Thomas in 69 episodes of the fantasy comedy series “Ally McBeal”, which starred Jane Krakowski, Calista Flockhart and Greg Germann, and which David E. Kelley created. The series is about American attorney Ally, it aired from 1997 through 2002, and won 50 of its 165 award nominations.

Education and early life

Courtney was raised alongside her older sister Jennifer in San Francisco, by their mother Lora Thorne who’s a therapist, and father Walter Smith who was a computer market researcher; her sister is today an advertising executive.

Courtney’s parents divorced when she was seven, and she then spent several years living with her mother prior to moving in with her father. She studied at Menlo-Atherton High School, and transferred to Tamalpais High School two years later; it was at Tamalpais that Courtney became passionate about acting, joining the school’s drama club and appearing in school plays, while she also joined the Ensemble Theatre Company.

Upon matriculating in 1985, she chose to pursue acting rather than a college degree.

Roles in movies

Courtney’s debut film role was playing Alise in the 1986 romantic comedy “Lucas”, written and directed by David Seltzer, and which starred Corey Haim, Kerri Green and Charlie Sheen. It follows a 14 years old boy who’s experienced heartbreak for the first time now that his crush has fallen for his best friend; the film was nominated for three awards.

A couple of Courtney’s following roles were in the 1986 comedy “Welcome to 18”, the romantic drama “Infidelity” and the  comedy “Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise” both in 1987. The year 1990 saw her play Samantha, one of the main characters in the popular romantic comedy “Side Out”, directed by Peter Israelson, and which also starred C. Thomas Howell and Peter Horton. It follows a law student who’s now become a professional volleyball player. Courtney could then have been seen playing Helen Lutz in the 1994 thriller “Breach of Conduct”, heard voicing Shiho Tsukishima in the English version of the 1995 animated family drama “Whisper of the Heart”, and the same year seen playing Cheryl Ann Davis in the thriller “Beauty’s Revenge”.

In 1997, she starred as Natalie Stockwell in the comedy “Chairman of the Board”, written and directed by Alex Zamm, and which also starred Scott ‘Carrot Top’ Thompson and Larry Miller. It follows a surfer who’s become the CEO of a successful company, and the film was nominated for three awards.

Courtney’s since been focused on appearing in TV series, and has had only three film roles: in the 1997 romantic comedy “The Lovemaster”, the 2005 short animated action “Batman: New Times” (voice role), and the 2009 comedy “Sorority Wars”.

Roles in TV series

Courtney played the lead character Stacey Hamilton in all the seven episodes of the 1986 comedy “Fast Times”, created by Allen Rucker, and which also starred Claudia Wells and James Nardini; it follows the lives of teenagers attending Ridgemont High.

She gained recognition in 1988 and 1989, when she starred as Kristin Carlson in the comedy “Day by Day”, created by Andy Borowitz and Gary David Goldberg, and which also starred Doug Sheehan and Linda Kelsey. It follows a wealthy couple who’ve quit their jobs to start a day care center at their home, and the series was nominated for six awards.

Courtney appeared in an episode of several series in the ‘90s, but notably from 1992 through 1997 starred as Allison Parker in 158 episodes of the popular romantic drama “Melrose Place”, which follows several friends living in Melrose Place, California and which won six of its 14 award nominations.

She spent the entirety of the 2000s – 182 episodes – shooting for the romantic comedy “According to Jim”, created by Jonathan Stark and Tracy Newman, and in which Courtney starred alongside Jim Belushi and Larry Joe Campbell. It follows the lives of a macho man, his wife and their three children, and the series was nominated for 25 awards.

Courtney’s three most recent TV series roles have been in two episodes of the 2017 comedy “Fresh Off the Boat”, three episodes of the 2019 crime mystery mini-series “Past Malice” and the 2020 episode “Beef Baloney Dan and a Sarcastic No” of the romantic comedy “Mom”.

Other credits

Courtney received special thanks for the 2006 short romantic movie “Shade”.

She produced two episodes of the crime mystery series “Past Malice” in 2017 and 2019.

Some of her recent talk-show appearances have been in “Home & Family”, “Stars in the House” and “Extra”.

Awards and nominations

Courtney and her colleagues were nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 1998, 1999 and 2000, all for “Ally McBeal”, winning one in 1999.

Love life and marriages

Courtney’s married twice. She dated her “Melrose Place” colleague Andrew Shue sometime in the first half of the ‘90s, but in June 2000 exchanged vows with American geneticist Andrew Conrad, after two years of dating; however, the two divorced six months later.

Courtney married her second husband, American businessman and author Roger Fishman on 1 January 2007; he’s probably known best for authoring the book “What I Know” and being the president of the marketing company The Zizo Group. Their son Jacob Emerson Fishman was born on 11 January 2008.

She hasn’t mentioned other men whom she’s maybe dated, Courtney’s married to her second husband Roger Fishman as of April 2023, and they have a son together.

Interesting facts and hobbies

Courtney’s also an author, having published her novel “Outside In” on 18 September 2007.

She became a spokeswoman for the cosmetics brand Almay in 1997, and is today a spokeswoman for the Atkins diet.

Courtney isn’t active on Instagram, but there’s a fan page of her on the social media network; it’s followed by close to 500 people, and there are 12 pictures uploaded onto it.

She’s into travelling and has been a number of countries all around the world, while her favorite’s England.

Courtney’s a lover of animals, with dogs and sheep being her favorites.

Her two favorite actresses are Amanda Seyfried and Angelina Jolie, while some of her favorite movies include “Things Heard & Seen”, “Girl, Interrupted” and “Chloe”.

Eating disorder

There was a lot of pressure on Courtney while she was shooting for the series “Ally McBeal”, as the producers believed that she needed to lose weight. She thus began starving herself, eating only fruits for entire weeks, while she also exercised too much and pushed herself too had, thus developing an eating disorder.

She was eventually asked to do a nude scene, and this was when Courtney chose to leave the show, and to start taking better care of her body; she began having normal meals every day, and in only two months regained 10-15lbs (4-7kgs).

Age, height and wealth

Courtney’s age is 55. Her hair’s blonde and eyes are blue, she’s 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall and weighs around 130lbs (59kgs).

Courtney’s net worth’s been estimated at over $8 million, as of April 2023.

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