Cynthia Gibb (born December 14, 1963) is an American actress and former model who has starred in film and on television. She began her career as a cast member on the musical television drama Fame, based on the movie of the same name. She also appeared in the films Youngblood (1986), Salvador (1986), Malone (1987), Short Circuit 2 (1988) and Death Warrant (1990). She received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance as Gypsy Rose Lee in the film Gypsy (1993).
Cynthia Lowrie Gibb[1] was born December 14, 1963,[2] in Bennington, Vermont, U.S.[1] and grew up in Westport, Connecticut, and attended Staples High School.
At the age of 14, she began assignments with the Ford Modeling Agency in New York City.[3] She was on the cover of Vogue and Young Miss magazines. She was cast for her first film role in 1980, as a Young Fan in the Woody Allen film Stardust Memories.[4]
Gibb appeared in Youngblood,[1] also starring Rob Lowe. She also played the role of Susan Martin Wyatt Carter on the soap opera Search for Tomorrow,[4] appearing from 1981 to 1983. Gibb was a regular for three of the six seasons of the television series Fame,[4] which aired from 1982 to 1987. She appeared in the Diagnosis: Murder movies in 1992 as Dr. Amanda Bentley.[1] In Salvador (1986),[4] directed by Oliver Stone and starring James Woods, she portrayed an American lay missionary in El Salvador who was brutally raped and murdered. In the TV adaptation of Gypsy,[1] for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film; she played the adult Gypsy Rose Lee opposite Bette Midler as Madame Rose.[5]
Gibb later starred in the NBC sitcom Madman of the People[6] (1994–1995), and UPN series Deadly Games (1995–1997).[7] She has also played in many TV movies, including the role of Karen Carpenter in The Karen Carpenter Story (1989).[1] She played Mary Maloney opposite John Schneider in Mary Christmas.[1]