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Emmy
nominee Cynthia
Geary portrays Shelly Tambo, a former
Miss Northwest Passage who co-habits with her decades-older lover,
Holling Vincoeur (John
Cullum). Together they run Cicely's tavern and restaurant The
Brick, serving wisdom and wit to the locals. Geary was born on March
21, 1965. A native of Jackson, Mississippi, she is the youngest
of four children in what she describes as an "All-American Family."
Encouraged at an early age by her mother, a voice and music teacher,
Geary studied ballet, voice, and piano. Geary earned a Bachelor
of Arts degree in vocal performance and graduated with honors from
the University of Mississippi.
While attending
summer school at UCLA during her sophomore year of college, Geary
fell in love with the West Coast. After relocating to Los Angeles
upon graduation, she waited tables while honing her craft. In classic
Hollywood fashion, she was discovered by a talent manager who helped
launch her professional career. Her acting career began with a series
of national commercials, including spots for Coke and General Motors. |
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After landing
the lead role in Senior Prom, a two-person play at the
Off-Ramp Theater in Los Angeles, Geary moved on to television. Her
guest-starring roles include The Young and the Restless,
Divorce Court, Adam 12, and Superior Court.
However, she was not limited to just television -- her feature film
credits include Rich
Girl, Dangerous Curves,
and TV movies Us,
To Grandmother's House
We Go and The Awakening.
Since Northern Exposure, Geary also starred in 8
Seconds and the independent film Smoke
Signals. In 1998, she played lawyer, Lindsay Metcalf, in the
WB TV series You're the
One (see promo picture above).
She married
Robert Coron, a commercial real estate broker, on Oct. 1, 1994.
The couple met on a blind date. They live outside of Seattle, where
she also co-owned a restaurant, the Paragon
Bar and Cafe. Daughter Olivia was born in July 2000.
In 2002, Cynthia
Geary's film project The
Business of Fancydancing debuted at the Sundance Film Festival's
Prospector Square Theater. The film is the directorial debut of "Smoke Signals" writer Sherman
Alexie. Other NX cast members co-star: Elaine
Miles and Michelle
St. John (who played Debbie 'Something' in 4.17
Love's Labour Mislaid), who are reunited with their "Smoke Signals"
co-star Evan Adams.
The film, based on Sherman Alexie's collection of poetry and short
stories, The Business of Fancydancing, depicts the return
of a successful Indian poet to Spokane for the funeral of a childhood
friend and examines issues about the social identity of Native Americans
and the concept of Indian "authenticity." See more on The Business
of Fancy Dancing on the Sherman
Alexie Official Site. Geary
also participated in an independent film project in 2002, Welcome
to Mulletville. The film won Best Feature from the New
Jersey International Film Festival. Geary played
herself in the 2003 kung-fu farce, Four
Fingers of the Dragon.
Today, Geary
is a stay-at-home mom to her two daughters, and still acts occasionally. Her second daughter, Lyla, was born in January 2006. She appeared
at the 2004 Moosefest
with her husband. Fans heard many great stories of working on Northern
Exposure. In 2006, she appeared in an independent
film called Expiration
Date. Written by Rick Stevenson,
the film is a romantic comedy about a young man about to turn 25,
and both his father and grandfather were killed by milk trucks on
their 25th birthday. It is being filmed in the Seattle area.
Current and Upcoming projects:
Geary will appear in an independent film, shot in the Seattle area in February 2007, called The Spy and the Sparrow. The film tells the story of a retired CIA operative who embarks on a mission to make things right with his estranged daughter, a 30-something alcoholic facing separation from her own child. The company is aiming for a film festival tour later this year before a national release. |
