Lisa Edelstein

Lisa Edelstein (/ˈliːsə ˈɛdəlstiːn/; born May 21, 1966) is an American actress and playwright best known for playing Dr. Lisa Cuddy on the Fox medical drama series House. She currently stars as Abby McCarthy in the Bravo series Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce.

Early life

Edelstein was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of Bonnie and Alvin Edelstein. Her father is a pediatrician at Chilton Memorial Hospital (since retired). Her mother is a retired social worker. Her family is Jewish. The youngest of three children, she was raised in Wayne, New Jersey, and attended Wayne Valley High School, graduating in 1984.

At 16, Edelstein was a cheerleader for Donald Trump's New Jersey Generals. Edelstein soon encountered trouble when she organized a protest, because the team was forcing the cheerleaders to go and stand in bars while wearing their uniforms. Edelstein said she felt this was "akin to prostitution" and started a cheerleader strike.

She moved to New York City at the age of 18 to study theatre at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. While living in New York, she became involved in the club scene (known there only as "Lisa E.") and caused enough of a stir in the community to be dubbed New York City's "Queen of the Night" by writer and fellow celebutante James St. James, who briefly refers to Edelstein in his 1999 book Disco Bloodbath.