Background

Sheridan was born in New York City, the daughter of Elizabeth Poole-Jones, a concert singer, and Frank Sheridan, a classical pianist. Sheridan began her career as a dancer working in New York City in nightclubs and musicals. There, she met the then-unknown James Dean. Sheridan claims that she and Dean became engaged and had a short-lived romance. She has written a book on this subject, Dizzy & Jimmy: My Life with James Dean: A Love Story, in which she claimed they were each other's first "romantic love". After Dean was cast in a play which looked to be successful, he drifted away from Sheridan and — despite the play's quick demise — this was the end of their affair.

Career

Sheridan may be best known for her recurring role as Helen Seinfeld, mother to Jerry Seinfeld in Seinfeld. She played the role for nine seasons, from 1989 to 1998.

Sheridan starred in the 1976 Broadway play Best Friend before moving on to regular supporting roles in films and television series such as Moonlighting, Kojak, The A-Team, Murder, She Wrote, and Cagney & Lacey. Her first major role was playing nosy neighbor Raquel Ochmonek on the NBC TV series ALF.

In 2008, Sheridan starred alongside Andy Griffith, Doris Roberts, Paul Campbell and Marla Sokoloff in the romantic comedy Play the Game, about a young ladies' man who teaches his dating tricks to his lonely, widowed grandfather who is re-entering the dating world after a 60-year hiatus. The film stirred up some controversy due to its octogenarian sex scene between Griffith and Sheridan.

Personal life

Sheridan was married to the late William T. "Dale" Wales (August 17, 1917 - May 24, 2003). They have a married daughter, a photographer in New York's Greenwich Village, of whom Sheridan has said, "I'm so unmotherly, I cannot tell you. I'm still a flower child somewhere. My daughter was more my friend than my daughter most of her life."

[ Source: Wikipedia ]