Actress,
born Elizabeth Thomas on November 21, 1978, in Deerfield, Michigan,a suburb of
Detroit. One of three children of entertainer Danny Thomas and his wife Rosie.
She has a brother, Tony, and a sister, Terre. The children were all raised in
Hollywood.
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| Thomas with Pop Superstar Cyndi Lauper |
An
ebullient, perky brunette, Thomas was best known for her starring role in the
TV sitcom That Girl (1966-1971), in which she played an
aspiring actress and model, Ann Marie, a woman learning to make it on herown in
New York City with a little help from her red-haired boyfriend,Donald Hollinger
(Ted Bessell), and her father, Lou Marie (Lew Parker).
Thomas
began her acting career after graduating college and a short stintas a teacher.
She made appearances on early 1960s TV shows such as TheMany Loves of Dobie Gillis, Thriller, Zane Grey Theater, The Joey Bishop Show, Bonanza, McHale's Navy,TheDonna Reed
Show, and Ben Casey.
After That Girl ended in 1971, Thomas produced and
starred in thechildren's TV special Free
to Be...You and Me (1974),
for which shewon an Emmy Award. She won a Best Actress Emmy Award in 1986 for
another special, Nobody's
Child. In 1974 she made her Broadway debut in theHerb Gardner play Thieves, and appeared in the
film version in1977. She also appeared in Mike Nichols's 1986 production of SocialSecurity, with Ron
Silver. She occasionally appears as a guest star onthe TV sitcom Friends.
Thomas
married talk show host Phil Donahue in
1980. She is active in charity work for her late father's favorite cause, the
St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, which he
founded. And currently performs with the Edgy Improv Group, Still2Soon.
