Kristen Johnston (Actor)

Actress Kristen Johnston attends the 2003 Sex and the City party in NYC. (Photo: Evan Agostini / Getty Images)

A strikingly attractive, statuesque blonde with a distinctively husky voice, Kristen Johnston became an overnight star with the success of the aliens come to earth sitcom "3rd Rock From the Sun" (NBC, 1996-2001). Raised in the Midwest, Johnston spent several of her formative years as an exchange student in South America and Sweden. After graduating from New York University with a BFA in acting, she joined David Mamet's Atlantic Theatre Company and appeared in such productions as "As You Like It" and "Stage Door". A well-received supporting turn in the off-Broadway play "The Lights" brought her to the attention of casting directors. Johnston landed guest roles on TV series like "The Five Mrs. Buchanans" and "Chicago Hope" before she auditioned for the role of Sally Solomon, the tough-talking, male alien in a female human's body. Displaying razor-sharp comic timing, Johnston more than holds her own among the cast which also includes Emmy-winner John Lithgow and French Stewart. She further displayed her abilities as the devoted personal assistant of a famed actress (Patricia Clarkson) in the middling TV version of "Neil Simon's 'London Suite'" (NBC, 1996) and as the aptly named Ivana Humpalot in the big screen spoof "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" (1999). She was also well-cast as Wilma in the tepid live-action cartoon "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas" (2000).