Connie Sellecca on AllMovie

The reigning queen of the made-for-TV feature, raven-haired beauty Connie Sellecca has been lighting up the small screen since her memorable debut in the The Bermuda Depths in 1978. Whether it be in featured roles or recurring performances in such series as Hotel (1983), P.S.I. Luv U (1991), or Second Chances (1993), the actress has had an enduring success on television. A Bronx native whose family relocated to the upstate burg of Pomona when she was 12-years-old, Sellecca began to explore acting while attending Ramapo High School. She later dropped out of Boston College to pursue life as an actress, set her sights on New York, and hired an agent. Supporting herself with a series of lucrative modeling jobs in New York and Europe, she nailed her first screen test and landed a starring role in the Carl Weathers adventure The Bermuda Depths. A series of successful small-screen features followed, and Sellecca began to enjoy steady work in such TV series as Flying High and Beyond Westworld. In 1979, she married actor Gil Gerard; they divorced in 1987. That same year, Sellecca received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in the popular series Hotel. Through the 1980s and '90s, her modeling eventually gave way to near-exclusive work as an actress, and, in 1992, she married again, this time to composer and former Entertainment Tonight host John Tesh. Sellecca averaged about a movie per year during the '90s. In 1991, she inked a six-year deal with Montgomery Ward that put her in charge of her own line of clothing and accessories. Following appearances in such efforts as A Dangerous Affair and The Surrogate (both 1995), Sellecca scored stellar ratings for The Family Channel with the drama While My Pretty One Sleeps (1997). That same year, the actress attempted to thwart disaster in Doomsday Rock. She proved her staying power with strong performances in both I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus in 2001 and Anna's Dream in 2002.