Early life

Cuoco was born in Camarillo, California, the elder daughter of Layne Ann (Wingate), a homemaker, and Gary Carmine Cuoco, a realtor. Her father is of Italian descent while her mother is of English and German ancestry. Her sister, Briana, competed on the fifth season of The Voice. As a child, Cuoco was a regionally ranked amateur tennis player, a sport she took up when she was 3 years old. She stopped playing in 2002, at the age of 16.

Career

Cuoco made her first feature film appearance as the young Karin Carter in the 1995 action thriller Virtuosity. In 1999, Cuoco appeared on the CBS sitcom Ladies Man and in 2000 she portrayed former Brady Bunch star Maureen McCormick in the TV movie Growing Up Brady as well as starring in the Disney Channel Original Movie Alley Cats Strike. In September 2002, Cuoco began a starring role as Bridget Hennessy on the ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules. Bridget was the oldest child, despite Cuoco being six years younger than Amy Davidson, who played her younger sister. Because of low ratings, ABC canceled the series on May 17, 2005.

In addition to the final season of 8 Simple Rules, Cuoco had starring roles on the NBC miniseries 10.5, the ABC Family original movie Crimes of Fashion, the independent film Debating Robert Lee, and in the film The Hollow. She also voiced the character of Brandy Harrington, a 14-year-old anthropomorphic mixed-breed dog, on the Disney Channel cartoon Brandy and Mr. Whiskers. Cuoco voiced the character of Kirstee Smith in Bratz from 2004 to 2005. In the eighth season of the TV show Charmed, Cuoco appeared as Billie Jenkins, a powerful young witch with the powers of telekinesis and projection. Executive producer Brad Kern stated that Cuoco's character was initially brought in as a possible spin-off.

In September 2007, Cuoco began starring in the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, playing Penny, a Cheesecake Factory employee and aspiring actress who lives across the hall from scientists Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper. Prior to the 2010-2011 season, she earned $60,000 an episode for the series, the same as her co-stars. In 2010, the cast negotiated a raise for each actor to make $200,000 per episode. On September 13, 2010, she broke her leg in a horse-riding accident and missed two episodes of the series. In late October 2012, Cuoco enlisted the help of her sister Briana to organize a flash mob on the set of the show, in which she and the cast and crew surprised the studio audience by suddenly lip-synching and dancing to Carly Rae Jepsen's song "Call Me Maybe". A video of the event was posted on YouTube and became a viral success. A clip from the performance was also played during Cuoco's January 8, 2013 appearance on the late night talk show Conan. As of August 2014, Cuoco and her co-stars from The Big Bang Theory Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons, each earn an estimated $1 million per episode.

Cuoco starred in the Lifetime film To Be Fat Like Me, which premiered on January 8, 2007. She played a minor role in the Prison Break episodes "The Message" and "Chicago", as well as starring in the comedy horror spoof Killer Movie in 2008. She also appeared in the 2010 film The Penthouse. In 2011, Cuoco appeared in Allure magazine's annual "Naked Truth" feature. That same year, she appeared in the films Hop and The Last Ride. She was also chosen to host the Teen Choice Awards in 2011, as well as the People's Choice Awards in 2012 and 2013. Cuoco is a regular on Priceline.com commercials as the daughter of William Shatner's character.

Personal life

While working on The Big Bang Theory, Cuoco privately dated co-star Johnny Galecki for roughly two years until December 2009, while their characters on the show were also dating. She told CBS Watch in September 2010 that they have remained on good terms since ending their relationship. She became engaged to addiction specialist Josh Resnik in October 2011, but they ended their engagement by March 2012. Cuoco subsequently became engaged to professional tennis player Ryan Sweeting in September 2013, after three months of dating. They married on December 31, 2013, in Santa Susana, California. On September 25, 2015, it was announced that the two mutually decided to divorce. The divorce was finalized in May 2016.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Quicksand: No Escape	Connie Reinhardt
1995	Virtuosity	Karin Carter
1997	Picture Perfect	Little girl
1997	Toothless	Lori
1998	Mr. Murder	Charlotte Stillwater
2000	Alley Cats Strike	Elisa Bowers
2000	Growing Up Brady	Maureen McCormick
2000	Can't Be Heaven	Teresa Powers
2003	Merry Mickey Celebration, AA Merry Mickey Celebration	Herself
2004	Debating Robert Lee	Maralee Rodgers
2004	Crimes of Fashion	Brooke Sarto
2004	Hollow, TheThe Hollow	Karen
2005	Lucky 13	Sarah Baker
2006	Separated at Worth	Gabby
2006	Wasted	Katie Cooning
2006	Bratz: Passion 4 Fashion - Diamondz	Kirstee Smith
2007	To Be Fat like Me	Alyson Schmidt
2007	Cougar Club	Amanda
2008	Killer Movie	Blanca Champion
2010	Penthouse, TheThe Penthouse	Erica Roc
2011	Hop	Samantha O'Hare
2011	Last Ride, TheThe Last Ride	Wanda
2014	Authors Anonymous	Hannah Rinaldi
2015	The Wedding Ringer	Gretchen Palmer
2015	Burning Bodhi	Katy	Completed
2015	Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip	Eleanor	Voice

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	My So-Called Life	Young Angela Chase	Episode: "Father Figures"
1994	Northern Exposure	Miranda	Episode: "Hello, I Love You"
1996	Ellen	Little Ellen Morgan	Episode: "The Bubble Gum Incident"
2000	Homewood PI	Lauren Crane	Episode: "Pilot"
2000	Don't Forget Your Toothbrush	Ashley
2000-01	Ladies Man	Bonnie Stiles	8 episodes
2001	7th Heaven	Lynn	Episode: "Relationships"
2002	First Monday	Alyssa	Episode: "Pilot"
2002	Ellen Show, TheThe Ellen Show	Vanessa	Episode: "Shallow Gal"
2002	Nightmare Room, TheThe Nightmare Room	Kristin Ferris	Episode: "My Name is Evil"
2002-05	8 Simple Rules	Bridget Hennessy	76 episodes
2004	The Help	Carly Michaels	Episode: "Pilot"
2004	Complete Savages	Erin	Episode: "For Whom the Cell Tolls"
2004	Punk'd	Herself	Season 3, Episode 3
2004	10.5	Amanda Williams	TV miniseries
2004-06	Brandy and Mr. Whiskers	Brandy Harrington	Voice
2005-06	Bratz	Kirstee Smith	Voice
2005-06	Charmed	Billie Jenkins	22 episodes
2005-07	Loonatics Unleashed	Paula Hayes / Weather Vane	3 episodes
2006	Secrets of a Small Town	Misty Anders	Episode: "Pilot"
2007	Prison Break	Sasha Murray	Episodes: "The Message" and "Chicago"
2007-present	Big Bang Theory, TheThe Big Bang Theory	Penny	All episodes except "The Desperation Emanation" and "The Irish Pub Formulation"
2012	Peterson: Untouchable, DrewDrew Peterson: Untouchable	Stacy Peterson	TV movie

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
1993	Young Artist Award	Best Young Actress in a Cable Movie	Quicksand: No Escape	Nominated
2000	YoungStar Award	Best Young Actress in a Mini-Series/Made for TV Film	Growing Up Brady	Nominated
2003	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) - Leading Young Actress	8 Simple Rules	Nominated
2003	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress: Comedy	8 Simple Rules	Nominated
2003	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Breakout Star: Female	8 Simple Rules	Won
2004	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress: Comedy	8 Simple Rules	Nominated
2004	Young Artist Awards	Best Young Adult Performer in a Teenage Role	8 Simple Rules	Nominated
2010	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress: Comedy	The Big Bang Theory	Nominated
2011	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress: Comedy	The Big Bang Theory	Nominated
2012	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Comedy Actress	The Big Bang Theory	Nominated
2012	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress: Comedy	The Big Bang Theory	Nominated
2012	Satellite Award	Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy	The Big Bang Theory	Won
2013	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress: Comedy	The Big Bang Theory	Nominated
2013	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Comedy Actress	The Big Bang Theory	Nominated
2013	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	The Big Bang Theory	Won
2014	People's Choice Awards	Favorite TV Comedy Actress	The Big Bang Theory	Won
2014	Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Funny Star	The Big Bang Theory	Nominated
2014	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	The Big Bang Theory	Nominated
2015	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Comedic TV Actress	The Big Bang Theory	Won
2015	Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite TV Actress	The Big Bang Theory	Nominated
2015	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress: Comedy	The Big Bang Theory	Nominated

Charities

Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting supports the following charitable cause: ALS (amyrotrophic lateral sclerosis).

[ Source: Wikipedia ]