Charlotte Ross

Early life

Ross was born and raised in Winnetka, Illinois. Her parents are Debbie Ross Kullby, who is retired and living in Colorado; and Peter Ross (d. 2009), a financial advisor. Charlotte has one younger brother, George, a hedge fund-analyst. "When we were little I used to beat him up," she recalls with a laugh, "but now we're close." Her first on-screen performance was in My First Mouthpiece; she was 8 years old. She moved on to performing in various hometown theater productions.

Career

After graduating from New Trier High School, Charlotte moved to Los Angeles, which her father opposed. She tried out for the role of Kelly Bundy on Married... with Children, but was the producers' second choice behind Christina Applegate to whom she lost the role, before being cast as Eve Donovan on Days of Our Lives. Four years later, Ross co-starred with Katey Sagal ("Peg Bundy") in the movie Violation of Trust (aka She Says She's Innocent). The year after that, she guested on Married... with Children as one of Bud Bundy's sexier classmates.

Ross's run on Days of Our Lives lasted from 1987 to 1991, earning her two Emmy nominations. Her other television credits include the musical drama series The Heights (where she sang on the Billboard Number One hit "How Do You Talk to an Angel"), The 5 Mrs. Buchanans, Drexell's Class, Pauly, Law & Order, Trinity, Beggars and Choosers, Frasier, Savage Land, Jake in Progress, Fall into Darkness and A Kiss So Deadly (which reunited her with Days co-star Charles Shaughnessy). She also co-starred in the 2007 Lifetime TV films Montana Sky and Christmas in Paradise. She earned a Gold record in 1992 for her work as a singer on the soundtrack album to the The Heights, famous for the song "How Do You Talk To An Angel".

Ross is also known for her role as Connie McDowell in the ABC police drama series NYPD Blue from 2001 to 2004. On February 25, 2003, Ross appeared in an NYPD Blue episode entitled "Nude Awakening", which featured shots of her buttocks as she prepared to step into the shower. As a result, the FCC fined each of the 52 ABC stations with a $27,500 fine for broadcasting "indecent material" between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. However, on January 4, 2011, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously revoked the fine, stating that the FCC's enforcement of its indecency rules was "unconstitutionally vague and chilling." ABC, Inc., et al. v. Federal Communications Commission, No. 08-0841-ag(L) (2nd Cir.).

In 2006, Ross joined Billy Blanks to co-host a series of Tae-Bo infomercials. In 2011, Ross appeared as Candy in Summit's 3D film Drive Angry, alongside Nicolas Cage and Amber Heard. In 2009, Ross began a recurring role on the Fox comedy-drama series Glee as Judy Fabray, the mother of Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron). She appeared in 4 episodes. In 2013, Ross began starring in the VH1 drama Hit the Floor . In 2014, Ross passed on an offer to return to Days of our Lives as Eve Donovan, and her role was recast with Kassie DePaiva because she was too busy with other acting projects. Along with this news, Ross made a guest appearance on the ABC musical drama series Nashville. Later that year she was cast as Felicity Smoak's mother in The CW series, Arrow.

Personal life

On October 18, 2003, Ross married Michael Goldman and gave birth to one child: son Maxwell Ross Goldman (whose name combines Charlotte's and her mother's maiden names). She and Michael Goldman separated in 2008 but "remain best of friends in raising our son." She resides in Los Angeles.

Activism

In 2002, Ross supported PETA's anti-fur campaign by appearing naked in advertisements captioned "I'd Rather Show My Buns Than Wear Fur".

In 2014, Ross signed on her support to the Animal Legal Defense Fund campaign "National Justice for Animals Week" by filming a video.