Rita Wilson Biography

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Actress Rita Wilson has played supporting and leading roles on television and in feature films. Her first TV work was the recurring role of Nurse Lacey on the long-running CBS sitcom M*A*S*H. An athletic beauty, Wilson had leading roles in two short-lived series, The Cheerleaders (1976) and The Beach Girls (1977). She made her film debut in Cheech & Chong's Next Movie (1978). Though she could have continued her career playing fluffy roles, Wilson had higher aspirations and accepted an invitation to attend the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. When not studying, Wilson honed her dramatic skills at the Macowan Theatre in London. Upon her return to the U.S., Wilson co-starred with Tom Hanks in Volunteers (1985). A romance flowered between the two and they married three years later. In 1993, Wilson played one of her best-known roles, that of Suzy, the girl who falls to pieces while describing the movie An Affair to Remember in Sleepless in Seattle. Wilson had a rare starring role opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in the holiday comedy Jingle All the Way (1996). Wilson has subsequently divided her time between films and television work, appearing in Hanks' feature directorial debut That Thing You Do! (1996) as well as such popular sitcoms as Mad About You and Frasier in addition to the acclaimed Hanks-produced miniseries From the Earth to the Moon. After a turn in Gus Van Sant's remake of Psycho, Wilson could be seen in such romantic comedy/dramas as Runaway Bride and The Story of Us before her role as Leelee Sobieski's ill-fated mother in The Glass House (2001). - Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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