ANDREA THOMPSON Biography - Actors and Actresses

 
 

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ANDREA THOMPSON

Name: Rebecca Andrea Thompson                                                     
                                                                                   
Rebecca Andrea Thompson is an American actress, best known for her roles on the   
television series Falcon Crest, Babylon 5, and NYPD Blue.                         
                                                                                   
Born in Dayton, Ohio to a devoutly Catholic family, Thompson spent much of her     
childhood in Australia, returning to the United States to pursue an acting and     
modeling career. Her first significant film role was in the 1987 film Wall         
Street. In 1989 she was cast on the soap opera Falcon Crest as the scheming       
Genele Ericson during the show's final season and in 1993 on the science fiction   
television series Babylon 5 as telepath Talia Winters. Thompson left the series   
at the end of its second season.                                                   
                                                                                   
Thompson moved on to appear as Detective Jill Kirkendall on three seasons of       
crime drama NYPD Blue, leaving in April 2000 to pursue a career in journalism.     
                                                                                   
Thompson began work with CBS affiliate KRQE in Albuquerque, New Mexico as a       
general assignment correspondent for $26,000 per year.                             
                                                                                   
Thompson joined CNN Headline News as an evening anchor in June 2001. CNN had       
laid off 400 of 4000 employees in January, and was refocusing on personalities     
to draw in a younger crowd. "A lot of people gave her credit for leaving her       
career to pursue journalism," said one CNN insider. Her first words on-screen     
as anchor were "Hi, I'm Andrea Thompson, and unless you've been living in a cave, 
you probably already know that." Her hiring generated controversy in               
journalism circles, mostly because Thompson was a high school drop-out with just   
one year of journalism experience at that point. Nude pictures and videoclips     
of Thompson taken from her 1980s-era movies also began circulating on the         
Internet, causing some embarrassment for CNN. Thompson left the network           
months later, in March 2002. It was speculated at the time that the long days     
kept her from her 9-year old son.                                                 
                                                                                   
After leaving CNN, she went to work for Court TV introducing episodes of NYPD     
Blue and Forensic Files, as well as narrating the documentary series The System.   
She began hosting Psychic Detectives in 2003.                                     
                                                                                   
Thompson had a recurring guest role on the third season of 24, beginning           
November 2003.