B & B

Background:

“I guess you could say that there are similarities and differences between Megan and me. We are both trustworthy and reliable, but I am much more spontaneous than Megan.” Maeve Quinlan

Named one of Soap’s Most Beautiful People, American/Irish professional tennis player-turned-actress Maeve Quinlan is best remembered by soap opera fans as receptionist Megan Conley on the long-running daytime drama “The Bold and the Beautiful” (1995-2006). She has also starred as the homophobic mother on the critically acclaimed hit lesbian-themed series “South of Nowhere” (2005-2007) and the straight actress, Siobhan, on the web series “3Way,” which she also co-executive produces. On the big screen, Quinlan has amassed more than a dozen of projects since making an auspicious debut as the distressed coffee shop waitress in “The Florentine” (1999). A few years later, she was noticed for playing Rhonda in the Larry Clark controversial film 'Ken Park” (2002), which was screened at numerous film festivals. Other movies in which she has acted in include “Totally Blonde” (2001), “Net Games” (2003), “Heart of America” (2003), “Nobody’s Perfect” (2004), “Criminal” (2004), “The Drone Virus” (2004), “The Nickel Children” (2005) and “Nice Guys” (2005).

Quinlan's admirers should not miss her performance in the upcoming “Not Easily Broken” (2008), based on the novel by T.D. Jakes.

Apart from acting, Quinlan is know for dedicating her time to a number of non-profit organizations, specially dealing with animals, ovarian cancer, and abusive children and women. She enjoys hiking in addition to tennis, a sport that was once ranked her among the top 95 women in the world.

Quinlan was divorced from her actor-husband, Tom Sizemore, in 1999 after having been together for three years. Currently a single, she lives in Beverly Hills with her darling Golden Retriever, Seamus, while her family maintains residences in Chicago, Dublin Ireland, and Wicklow Ireland. The blonde, blue-eyed beauty holds both a U.S. and an Irish citizenships.

Tennis

Childhood and Family:

Born Maeve Anne Quinlan on November 16, 1969, in Chicago, Illinois, Maeve Quinlan was named after the first queen of Ireland by her Irish immigrant parents. In Gaelic, Maeve means intoxicating and Quinlan means strength. She began playing tennis at age 4 and by age 16, she had turned professional. Thanks to her natural sports ability, she was given a full tennis scholarship to Northwestern University, but later transferred to the University of Southern California, where she again earned a full-ride tennis scholarship. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with major in theatre and political science. It was while at USC that Maeve was encouraged by a drama professor to quit tennis and began her professional career as an actress.

The ex-member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority was married to Detroit, Michigan-born actor Tom Sizemore on September 1, 1996. In 1997, she telephoned the police and had her husband arrested for physically wounding her during an argument. Two years after the incident, on November 19, 1999, the couple divorced in a very respectful separation.

South of Nowhere

Career:

Before becoming an actress, Maeve Quinlan was a professional tennis player. Starting playing the sport at age 4, she had had the opportunity to play in her first professional tournament before reaching her seventeenth birthday. A former American Amateur Champ, she went on to compete in the Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, the French Open and the Australia Open, and reached the best 95 women players in the world. However, Quinlan, who had her first taste of acting in 8th grade when she landed the title role in “Mrs. McThing,” did not consider acting as a profession until she ruptured her ligament while playing tennis. After the injury, the USC graduate returned to her homeland, Chicago, and landed Nike and Gatorade commercials thanks to the help of her agent. In Chicago, she was also involved with regional theater and did several modelings.

With the hope of getting more work, Quinlan packed her stuff and headed to Los Angeles. She made her television acting debut as Betsy Kensington in the daytime soap “General Hospital” in 1993 and while performing at the Coast Playhouse in West Hollywood, she was discovered by a producer of “The Bold and the Beautiful” that led her to audition for a role in the high-rated show. She won the part of Megan Conley and made her debut performance in an episode aired on January 23, 1995. Originally hired as a one-episode player, Quinlan was invited back to the soap as a regular in the late 1996 and went on to spend the next nine years enjoying television hit with “The Bold and the Beautiful.” After departing the series in November 2005, she again returned to “B&B” in April 2006 to make several guest starring performances.

While building her television career, Quinlan has also acted in several feature films. After a guest spot in “L.A. Heat” (1999), she made her feature acting debut in the Francis Ford Coppola-produced “The Florentine” (1999) and received critical accolades for her performance as Claire, an indented coffee shop waitress who leaves big city to find herself. Among her costars in the indie-comedy/drama were Jeremy Davies, Virginia Madsen, Luke Perry, Jill Hennessey, Chris Penn, Mary Stuart Masterson, Hal Holbrook and then-husband Tom Sizemore. Still in that same year, she took an uncredited part in Ron Shelton's star-studded but disappointing sport-themed “Play It to the Bone,” which after a limited release in December 1999 received its premiere in January 2000.

Quinlan next appeared as a nurse in the action “Instinct to Kill” (2001), costarred with Krista Allen and Michael Buble the unsuccessful romantic comedy “Totally Blonde” (2001), played the supporting roles of Det. Sandra Simmonds and Becky Schultz in “Net Games” (2003, with C. Thomas Howell and Ed Begley, Jr.) and Uwe Boll's “Heart of America” (2003, with Maria Conchita Alonso and Michael Pare), respectively. In the long-anticipated “Ken Park,” the 2002 festival-screened hardcore drama jointly directed by Edward Lachman and controversial filmmaker Larry Clark, she gained notice as Rhonda, a struggled woman who saturates her demand for love and commendation by embarking in an affair with the boyfriend of her teen daughter. Giving complement to her performance, Clark said, “Quinlan gives a brilliant performance. She illuminates the screen and brings a specific sadness and a distinctive soulfulness to Rhonda that stays with you long after the movie has ended.”

2004 saw Quinlan in the Hank Azaria directorial debut “Nobody’s Perfect,” which starred Maria Bello, Ellen Pompeo and Azaria himself, the Steven Soderbergh-scripted, the Gregory Jacobs-directed “Criminal,” starring John C. Reilly, Diego Luna and Maggie Gyllenhal, the based-on-novel “The Drone Virus,” where she starred as a bright oncologist named Colleen O'Brian, and the made-for-TV film “A Boyfriend for Christmas,” for director Kevin Connor. She rejoined with Kevin Connor for the following year's telepic “McBride: The Chameleon Murder,” which starred John Larroquette and Matt Lutz, and later that same year she appeared in the Donal Logue film “Tennis, Anyone...?,”the Jason Mewes/Lacey Chaber vehicle “Nice Guys” and the drama “The Nickel Children,” in which her former husband played the role of Feedo and Quinlan herself portrayed a busted, alcoholic mother of a runaway girl.

It was also in 2005 that Quinlan made her return to series TV as a regular following her departure from “The Bold and the Beautiful” in “South of Nowhere.” The critically applauded hit series had the versatile actress play Paula Carlin, the prejudiced mother of a lesbian teen (played by Gabrielle Christian). “South of Nowhere” received two consecutive GLAAD Media nominations for Outstanding Drama Series in 2006 and 2007 and a 2007 Teen Choice nomination in the category of Choice TV- Breakout Show. After its three season run, the show departed the airwaves in the late 2007.

Quinlan was cast as a bisexual judge, Cragen, in the well-liked web series “GirlTrash” (2007), directed and written by Angela Robinson. The same year, she also supported Janine Turner and Costas Mandylor on the modest TV-movie thriller “Primal Doubt.”

Currently, Quinlan has completed filming the big screen adaptation of T.D. Jakes' novel “Not Easily Broken” (2008), playing Julie Sawyer. Among her costars in the drama film are Morris Chestnut, Taraji P. Henson and Cannon Jay. She has also served as an executive producer and actress in the lesbian-themed Internet series “3Way,” about a straight soap actress, Siobhan (played by Quinlan), who moves her best gay girlfriend into her home only to be succeeded by a range of goofy lesbian characters.

“I had this idea of a straight woman living with two lesbians, which was loosely based on my life in some capacity. I thought about blowing it up and making it bigger than life. And Nancylee said, “That’s a great idea!” So the blueprint for 3Way was sitting around like the rest of the garbage in my head and would have stayed there if not for Nancylee Myatt and Paige Bernhardt.” Maeve Quinlan

Awards:
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