Cynthia Gibb - Cast Member of the Month

Cynthia Gibb

“It is such an honour to have been a part of something that had such an influence on society... It gave struggling performers the strength to stay on the path and follow their own dreams.”

Cynthia Lowrie Gibb was born on December 14, 1963 making her star sign Sagittarius. Sagittarius women can be described as honest, conscientious and dedicated to the work that they do. They can always be counted on to do a fantastic job.

Born in Bennington, Vermont, Cynthia’s parents, a ballet dancer and teacher moved to Westport Connecticut, when she was 4. She lived there until she was 17.

When Cynthia was 5 years old her mother took her to child modelling auditions and her career began. Aged 14 she won a modelling contract with the Eileen Ford Agency in New York and throughout High School she posed for magazine shoots and filmed TV commercials.  Within a year she was on the cover of "Vogue" and "Young Miss".   

Woody Allen spotted her in one of those magazines and cast her in her first small film role in his 1980 movie “Stardust Memories”.  "I was raised in a very grounded family and community... I think that makes a huge difference.

My parents never let my career become blown out of proportion, in terms of its importance or its exclusivity. I was never allowed to think of myself as that different or special or entitled."

Only a month after her graduation from Staples High School in 1981, Cynthia moved to New York to star in the role of Susan "Suzi" Martin Wyatt Carter on the day time soap opera "Search for Tomorrow".  She stayed on the Soap for 2 years. She was also in and on off celebrity couple for a few years with Blue Lagoon  and Dallas star Chris Atkins.

Then in 1983 she moved to L.A. when she was cast as drama student Holly Laird. “I wanted this role in “Fame” terribly. It isn’t so bad doing Soap Operas, but what I really wanted to do was sing and dance.”  

Cynthia worked on “Fame” for 3 seasons from 1983 until 1985 and featured in 45 episodes including returning to the show for the final episode in 1987. She was nominated for Best Young Actress for the role in 1984.  "That was the best gig there ever was... It was so much fun."

During the hiatus between “Fame” seasons Cynthia had already made the move into feature films and had finished 2 movies before she left the series. Firstly, she co starred with Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze in “Youngblood”.  Secondly she was in the Oliver Stone 1986 Movie “Salvador” in which she starred with James Woods and Jim Belushi.

Cynthia spent the rest of the 80s and 90s working constantly on various TV series, TV movies and feature films. Most notably on “Short Circuit 2”; “Malone” with Burt Reynolds; “Jack’s Back” with James Spader and “Gypsy” with Bette Midler for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe award. 

Also she portrayed the late Karen Carpenter in the 1989 TV movie “The Karen Carpenter Story”.

 After 30 years living and working in L.A. Cynthia moved back to Westport Connecticut, with partner Lee Norman to bring up her children. Cynthia is still working in movies but has also started to teach.

She is currently the Founder and Director of the Triple Threat Academy for Performing Artists, which is a nurturing, educational, and inspiring environment for kids and adults to explore the performing arts.   

“If you had told me in 1983 that this “job” would end up being such an important part of my life, I would never have believed it. I am so grateful.”

In 2009 joined Nia Peeples and Borrego on stage in Italy for a Fame Reunion and has been part of the other Italian, U.S. and U.K. Reunions that have happened since.