Meredith Eaton

Though standing only 4'2" (4'3" with shoes), Meredith Eaton made a big impression when she beat out 2000 other applicants during a casting call for the made-for-cable movie, "Unconditional Love" (2002), launching her unexpected career as an actress. Born on Aug. 26, 1974 in Long Island, NY, Eaton pursued a career in psychology, attending Adelphi University where she earned a perfect 4.0 grade point average. Eaton later earned her master's and was accepted to her dream Ph.D program, when she heard about the open casting call for "Unconditional Love." The comic murder-mystery featured Kathy Bates as Grace, a middle-aged Midwestern woman who, after losing the two most important men in her life - her husband (Dan Aykroyd) and her favorite pop star (Jonathan Pryce) - travels to England to help the star's secret lover (Rupert Everett) find his killer. Eaton had a superfluous, but exceedingly funny role as Grace's aggressive and anxiety-ridden daughter-in-law who must deal with her husband walking out on her. Writer-director Paul Haggis loved Eaton's performance so much that he wrote the role of ultra-aggressive lawyer Emily Resnick on "Family Law" (CBS, 1999-2002) just for her. After the drama was cancelled, Eaton appeared in episodes of "NYPD Blue" (ABC, 1993-2005), "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (CBS, 2000-15) and "House" (Fox, 2004-12). She then landed a recurring role on "Boston Legal" (ABC, 2004-08), playing Bethany, a feisty lawyer whose habit for biting people she doesn't like - earning her the nickname "The Badger" - both repulses and attracts Denny Crane (William Shatner), with whom she engages in a politically incorrect romance.