November 30: Kaley Cuoco of "The Big Bang Theory" is 26-years-old today.

 

Kaley Christine Cuoco is best known for her roles as Bridget Hennessy on the sitcom 8 Simple Rules, Billie Jenkins on the supernatural drama Charmed, and presently as Penny on the popular sitcom The Big Bang Theory.

As part of a running gag on Big Bang, "Penny" and "Sheldon," played by Emmy winner Jim Parsons, sing the song, "Soft Kittee" to each other when they're sick. (See video below.)

Kaley was born in Camarillo, California. She began modeling and acting at age 6. Her first major role was in the 1992 TV movie Quicksand: No Escape. Her role as Maureen McCormick in the 2000 TV movie Growing Up Brady brought her much attention, as well as a role on the CBS sitcom Ladies Man.

In 2004, in addition to her role on 8 Simple Rules where she played a teenager, she had starring roles on the NBC miniseries 10.5, on the ABC Family original movie Crimes of Fashion, and in the independent film Debating Robert Lee. In 2000 she starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie Alley Cats Strike. In 2004, she began voicing the character of Brandy Harrington on the Disney Channel's cartoon, Brandy and Mr. Whiskers.

Kaley was named #77 on FHM-Us' 100 Sexiest Women in 2005 and #21 in 2008. Cuoco played Bridget Hennessy on the ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules. Bridget was the eldest child, despite Cuoco being six years younger than her on-screen little sister played by Amy Davidson, and was portrayed as "the most beautiful girl in the school." She had several boyfriends throughout the series and used her feminine wiles to exert significant control over the boys she encountered.

In the eighth season of the hit cult TV show Charmed Cuoco appeared as Billie Jenkins. Executive producer Brad Kern stated Kaley's character was initially brought in as a possible spin-off. In 2004, Cuoco co-starred in the movie The Hollow with stars Nick Carter and Kevin Zegers.

In September 2007, Cuoco began starring in The Big Bang Theory. She plays Penny, a beautiful, down-to-earth aspiring actress and employee at The Cheesecake Factory who moves in next door to two geeks, Sheldon (and Leonard (Johnny Galecki). In the show, she moved to California from Omaha, Nebraska to pursue a career in acting.

In 2007 Cuoco also starred in the Lifetime film To Be Fat Like Me. She also played a minor role in two Prison Break episodes  as well as taking the leading female role in the horror movie Killer Movie in 2008.

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Cuoco will star in Hop and as Wanda in The Last Ride which will be released in the near future. She has also been cast alongside Cam Gigandet, Penn Badgley and Crystal Lowe in Darkness Falls, expected to be released in 2011.

Cuoco currently lives in San Fernando Valley, California, with her German Shepherd, Duke, and her Chihuahua-Dachshund mix, Petey. She enjoys horseback riding, kickboxing, bowling, and playing the drums; and one of her favorite hobbies is table tennis. She was a nationally ranked amateur tennis player, which she began playing when she was three years old.

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December 7: "The Sing-Off" singer-songwriter and pianist Sara Bareilles is 32-years-old today.

Sara Beth Bareilles was born and raised in Eureka, California, the youngest of three daughters.  She has sold over 1 million records worldwide and has been Grammy-nominated three times.

Bareilles' vocal range registers from contralto to mezzo-soprano, and is often compared to artists such as Fiona Apple, Billy Joel, Joni Mitchell and Norah Jones. Her sound is described as "slightly edgy, stompy piano-based pop rock" that incorporates jazz and soul.


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Sara was a member of her the high school choir, Limited Edition, and local community theater musical productions, including her high school's production of Little Shop of Horrors as Audrey.


Bareilles attended the Communication Studies program at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she was a member of the co-ed a cappella group Awaken A Cappella, and can be heard on their Dysfunktional Family album singing "Gravity" and "I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5. The group's rendition of Bareilles' "Gravity" was featured on the Best of College A Cappella 2004 compilation CD.

Sara also stated on MTV's TRL that she and the band Maroon 5 go back far to their younger days in California when the band was known as Kara's Flowers. She performed in the annual student concert, UCLA Spring Sing, winning twice.

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After graduating from college in 2002, Bareilles performed at local bars and clubs, building a following before performing in larger venues. She issued two demos of mostly live tracks in 2003: The First One in April and The Summer Sessions in October. In 2004, she appeared as a singer in a bar in the indie film Girl Play, performing the song "Undertow."

In January 2004, Bareilles released her first studio album, Careful Confessions. She signed a contract with Epic Records on April 15, 2005. The remainder of the year and early 2006 were spent writing and reworking songs for her upcoming album.


In June 2007, iTunes featured Bareilles' single "Love Song" as the free single of the week. The following month, her major-label debut Little Voice shot to #1 on the list of most downloaded albums of the music store in its first week of release, and debuted at #45 on the Billboard 200 chart.

After being featured on a Rhapsody commercial in 2007, "Love Song" began climbing the pop charts, jumping from #73 to #16 in one week. It entered the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 on December 27, 2007, and peaked at #4. On other charts, such as the Pop 100 and Hot AC, "Love Song" hit #1.


Bareilles performed the song on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Thursday, January 17, 2008, and on the Today show on Thursday, February 21, 2008. Soon after that, the song entered the UK Singles Chart, peaking at #4.


Bareilles began work on the follow-up to her major label debut in the summer of 2009, collaborating with the likes of Amir "Questlove" Thompson, members of Weezer, and Pharrel Williams. The first single from her second album, "King of Anything," has since been certified Platinum by the RIAA.


In anticipation of the new album, Bareilles released a series of webisodes, featuring the making of select songs from Kaleidoscope Heart, including "King of Anything," "Uncharted," "Gonna Get Over You," "Bluebird," and a strings only version of "King of Anything." She was selected as VH1's Posted Artist of the Month for July 2010, chronicling her life leading up to the album's release.

Kaleidoscope Heart was released on September 7, 2010 and debuted at number 1 in the United States, selling 90,000 copies. Bareilles toured Europe and parts of Asia and Australia with Maroon 5 throughout spring 2011. She also opened select shows for country music duo Sugarland on their Summer 2011 Incredible Machine Tour.

On May 13, 2011 her song "Breathe Again" was used in the Smallville series finale for the wedding of comic book couple Clark Kent and Lois Lane.


It was announced in July 2011 that Bareilles will star in the third season of the NBC television series The Sing Off as a celebrity judge, alongside Ben Folds and Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men. The third single off of Kaleidoscope Heart is "Gonna Get Over You," with a music video directed by Jonah Hill. Bareilles also guest-starred on Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures.


For more about Sarab Bareilles, visit her Website at: http://www.sarabmusic.com