Betty Thomas

Born: 27th July 1948
Where: St Louis, Missouri

Before Betty turned her hand to the world of film, she worked as a schoolteacher.

Although now a well respected feature director, Betty's initial taste of Hollywood came in front of the camera, when she began acting in 1974 and became a company Member of the Second City theatre group in Chicago.

It was with The Fun Factory in which Betty was cast as a regular, that she embarked on her successful and lucrative TV career, after which she moved to Los Angeles and secured her TV-movie acting debut in Outside Chance.

In 1981, Betty was cast in the TV drama series Hill Street Blues - a job which lasted for six years and won her an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1985.

In 1989 Betty went back to feature work with a starring role opposite Shelley Long in Troop Beverly Hills, and it was in the same year that she decided to turn her hand to directing.

Betty's first job behind the camera was for a few episodes of Hooperman, and then she directed the first episode of the long running, highly popular series Doogie Howser, M.D.

Her next job as a director was on a couple of episodes of the hit TV sitcom Dream On, which earned her a second Emmy award, then in 1992 she hit the big screen with Only You, which starred Andrew McCarthey and Helen Hunt.

She then directed the feature The Brady Bunch Movie, and directed Howard Stern in the film adaptation of his memoirs Private Parts.

It was Dr. Dolittle, starring Eddie Murphy, that really brought Betty to the attention of cinema-goers and she followed it up with the rehab-set comedy-drama 28 Days, starring Sandra Bullock.