A Midwest native, Cari Shayne graduated from the prestigious Professional Children's School in New York City. Following graduation, she was cast as Karen Wexler in the number one daytime drama "General Hospital" (1963), propelling her into the national spotlight at the tender age of 18. However, a move to primetime is what served to broaden her appeal to a wider audience when she joined the cast of the hit Fox drama, "Party of Five" (1994). She made a splash with critics and Hollywood alike when she starred as young Naomi Judd in the NBC miniseries, Naomi & Wynonna: Love Can Build a Bridge (1995) (TV). People Magazine called her "luminous" and Peter Bogdanovich promptly snatched her up to star as Claire Gundry, a Marilyn Monroe wannabe, southern Belle in the 1950s period film The Price of Heaven (1997) (TV). Shayne also co-starred with Matthew Settle and Sarah Paulson in Louis L'Amour's Shaughnessy (1996) (TV) and appeared with Nestor Carbonell in the Sundance favorite Jack the Dog (2001).Shayne has also done extensive work in series television. Just before "Beverly Hills, 90210" (1990) took a bow, Aaron Spelling took notice of Shayne's ability to captivate audiences with her talent and appeal. After writing her on to 90210 as Daniel Cosgrove's schizophrenic wife, he then tapped her to star in the Mark Frost produced "Forbidden Island" (1999), the science fiction series for UPN filmed on location in New Zealand.With a solid foundation behind her, she has achieved a perfect balance of TV and film with her choice of varied and multi-layered roles. She can currently be seen starring opposite Robby Benson and Gail O'Grady on NBC's "American Dreams" (2002) as Emily McCarren. With upcoming performances in Dope (2003), in which she costars with Jason Priestley, Dancing at the Harvest Moon (2002) (TV) (a CBS movie with Jacqueline Bisset) and an appearance in Dennis Hopper's first television series "Flatland" (2002), Shayne is sure to guarantee that her current momentum will continue. She resides in Los Angeles, with her husband Alex Mendoza.
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