Kaley Christine Cuoco is an
American actress best known for portraying the character of Penny in the hit
CBS television series ‘The Big Bang Theory’. Along with Jim Parsons and Johnny
Galecki, who star in the series as Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter, she
is currently one of the highest-paid actors on television.
She was born on November 30,
1985, in Camarillo, California, to Gary Carmine Cuoco and Layne Ann. Her father
is a realtor and her mother is a homemaker. She is the eldest daughter of her
parents.
She was an athletic child and
started playing tennis at the age of three. She later became a regionally
ranked amateur tennis player but left the sport at the age of 16 to pursue
acting seriously.
As a child actress and model,
she was homeschooled throughout her early years and never attended a regular
school. She earned her high school diploma when she was 16 years old.
Starting out as a child
actress, she has built her career steadily with regular appearances in movies,
telefilms and on television. Some of her other well-loved television roles
include Bridget Hennessy on the ABC sitcom ‘8 Simple Rules’ and Billie Jenkins
on the television series ‘Charmed’. Her film credits include ‘Picture Perfect’,
‘Alley Cats Strike’, ‘Crimes of Fashion’, ‘The Hollow’, ‘To Be Fat like Me’,
‘The Last Ride, ‘The Wedding Ringer’ and ‘Burning Bodhi’, among many others.
Apart from her acting roles,
she has appeared in a number of commercials and has voiced many characters from
animated television shows and movies. She has been named into the top 20 on
Maxim magazine’s ‘Hot 100 Women’ list twice. She has a star on the Hollywood
‘Walk of Fame’.
Kaley Cuoco has been linked
with a number of celebrities in the past years, starting with her ‘8 Simple
Rules’ co-star Thad Luckinbill in 2002 and Canadian actor Kevin Zegers in
2003-04. She was in a relationship with Jaron Lowenstein between 2005 and 2006,
and also dated Al Santos in 2007.
While she plays the on-screen
love interest of Johnny Galecki in ‘The Big Bang Theory’, they secretly dated
from 2008 to 2010. She later mentioned that they separated amicably and are
still friends. She was engaged to addiction specialist Josh Resnik from October
2011 to March 2012.
In September 2013, she got
engaged to professional tennis player, Ryan Sweeting, and married him in Santa
Susana, California on December 31, 2013. However, they separated in September
2015, and later divorced in May 2016.
In 2028, she started dating
equestrian Karl Cook.
