An attractive, versatile supporting player and occasional lead, Played won attention as the sex-starved coach in the surprise hit teen comedy, "Porky's" (1981) and was excellent as a bitchy socialite opposite Rob Lowein Bob Swaim's stylish thriller, "Masquerade" (1988), although she may be probably best remembered as the animated alter ego of the titular clotheshorse in the 1987 romantic comedy "Mannequin". With a long list of credits in better forgotten low-budget features, Cattrall did more impressive work on the small screen with roles as the mysterious former lover of James Belushiin the Oliver Stone-produced, "Twin Peaks"-style miniseries, "Wild Palms" (ABC, 1993), a former beauty queen, wife and mother having an affair with the stable boy in the short-lived "Angel Falls" (CBS, 1993) and a fortyish femme fatale PR agent living the high life in NYC on the hit HBO series "Sex and the City" (1998- ).

Born in Liverpool, England, but raised in Canada, Cattrall did some acting as an 11-year in a Liverpool theater during a visit back home. She dropped out of high school at age 16 to move to NYC and try her hand at acting. She became possibly the youngest graduate ever of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and made her professional stage debut in a production of "The Rocky Picture Horror Show". She has since appeared infrequently on stage: she was Masha in a 1985 production of "Three Sisters" and co-starred with Ian McKellen in the unsuccessful Chekhov adaptation "Wild Honey" (1986). Other credits include "The Misanthrope" in 1989 at Chicago's famed Goodman Theatre and the title role of "Miss Julie" (1992) at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey.

A lovely brunette who also made a convincing blonde intermittently throughout her career, Cattrall made her feature film acting debut for producer-director Otto Preminger in "Rosebud" (1975), but it was not until 1980 that she had a truly showy part, that of the young woman hand-picked by Jack Lemmon to bring his stuffy son Robby Benson alive in "Tribute". She followed with a memorable scene amidst smelly gym socks in "Porky's", was among the ensemble in the first "Police Academy" (1984) and starred opposite Kurt Russell as a sharp lawyer in John Carpenter's "Big Trouble in Little China" (1986). Her spate of unremarkable film work has been punctuated by such memorable work as her turn as the villainous Justine DeWinter in the otherwise uninspired reunion film "The Return of the Musketeers" (1989), Mr. Spock's protege Valeris in "Star Trek IV: The Undiscovered Country" (1991) and the high school friend about to embark on her third marriage in "Live Nude Girls" (1995).

On the small screen, Cattrall won notice as Melanie Adams in the CBS miniseries "Scruples" (1980) and played an aspiring political columnist who ends up writing something else entirely in "The Gossip Columnist" (syndicated, 1980). She kept busy with turns in such forgettable fare as 1984's "Sins of the Past" (ABC) and 1991's "Miracle in the Wilderness" (TNT), but returned with a spark to the role of Susan, the title character's best friend, in "The Heidi Chronicles" (TNT, 1995). Work in the miniseries thrillers "Robin Cook's 'Invasion'" (NBC, 1997) and "Peter Benchley's 'Creature'" (ABC, 1998) kept the alluring actress in the public eye. In 1998, Cattrall finally landed a role that made the most of her youthful good looks and onscreen poise and charisma and earned her popularity and critical acclaim: public relations maven Samantha Jones on the racy HBO sitcom "Sex and the City". The most carnally adventurous of a group of successful NYC professionals, Samantha would have to be played by an exceptionally self-assured performer and Cattrall's strikingly unreserved but polished and skilled portrayal of the straight-talking socialite earned the actress Emmy nominations for the series' much improved second and third season and once again for the highly rated 2002 season.