Michelle Stafford (born September 14, 1968) is an American actress, screenwriter and producer. She currently plays Phyllis Summers on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

daytime soap opera ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, ...

'', for which she has won two

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

s. In 2013, Stafford created and starred in her own comedy

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...

, '' The Stafford Project''. She also played Nina Reeves on the ABC daytime soap opera '' General Hospital''.

Early life

Stafford was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. Her parents moved her and her older sister, Janine, to Montrose, California, where she was raised. After graduating from high school, Stafford chased after her dream of modeling.

Career

In 1990 Stafford was cast in Fox soap opera ''

Tribes The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

''. The show was canceled after 3-month airing on Fox. She later appeared in two plays directed by

Charles Durning Charles Edward Durning (February 28, 1923 – December 24, 2012) was an American actor who appeared in over 200 movies, television shows and plays.Schudel, Matt (December 26, 2012) "''In real life and on the screen, he played countless role ...

in Los Angeles stage, and co-starred in several small films. In October 1994, Stafford began what was supposed to be a short term role of Phyllis Summers on the American CBS Daytime

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

''; however, her work impressed the producers and she was placed on contract. In 1997, Stafford left the series to pursue other career opportunities, and she was replaced by Sandra Nelson. In 1997 she was cast in Aaron Spelling primetime soap opera '' Pacific Palisades'' as lead character, but show was canceled after 13 episodes. She later guest-starred in ''

Two Guys and a Girl ''Two Guys and a Girl'' (titled ''Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place'' for the first two seasons) is an American television sitcom created by Rick Wiener, Kenny Schwartz and Danny Jacobson. The series started as a short-run (13 episodes) mid-se ...

'', '' Diagnosis: Murder'', and '' JAG''. In film, Stafford appeared in 1999 thriller ''

Double Jeopardy In jurisprudence, double jeopardy is a procedural defence (primarily in common law jurisdictions) that prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same (or similar) charges following an acquittal or conviction and in rare case ...

'' opposite

Ashley Judd Ashley Judd (born Ashley Tyler Ciminella; April 19, 1968) is an American actress. She grew up in a family of performing artists: she is the daughter of the late country music singer Naomi Judd and the half-sister of country music singer Wynonna ...

. In July 2000, Stafford was brought back to the soap opera by former head writer Kay Alden. From December 2006 to February 2007, Stafford played dual roles on ''Y&R'', portraying

Sheila Carter Sheila Carter is a fictional character from ''The Young and the Restless'' and ''The Bold and the Beautiful'', American soap operas on the CBS network. Created by William J. Bell, the role was introduced in 1990 — by Edward J. Scott — under t ...

, formerly played by

Kimberlin Brown Kimberlin Ann Brown Pelzer (born June 29, 1961) is an American television actress, best known for her role as Sheila Carter in the CBS daytime soap operas ''The Young and the Restless'' and ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' from 1990. Career Brown ...

(Sheila had

plastic surgery Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes cranio ...

to look like Phyllis). In May 2013, it was announced that Stafford would be exiting the soap opera after sixteen years in the role. Stafford later confirmed that her final scenes would air sometime that August. Stafford exited the series on August 2, 2013. In 2004, Stafford was a

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

correspondent for ''

The Best Damn Sports Show Period ''The Best Damn Sports Show Period'' was an American sports television show that aired on Fox Sports Net and Comcast SportsNet. The show regularly featured irreverent and opinionated interviews with top athletes, coaches, celebrities, and entertai ...

''. Stafford starred in Lifetime movie ''Like Mother, Like Daughter'' in 2007. In 2007, Stafford appeared on

Tyra Banks Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American television personality, model, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15, and was the first Africa ...

' talk show to help Tyra through "soap opera school." In 2012 she appeared as Lauren on the web series ''The Grove'', created by

Crystal Chappell Crystal Elizabeth Chappell (born August 4, 1965) is an American actress who played Carly Manning on ''Days of Our Lives'' from 1990 to 1993, Maggie Carpenter on ''One Life to Live'' from 1995–97 and Olivia Spencer on ''Guiding Light'' from ...

. She also guest-starred in ''

Frasier ''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons. It premiered on September 16, 1993, and ended on May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee (as Grub ...

'', '' Charmed'', and '' Ringer''. She subsequently launched her web series, '' The Stafford Project'', based on her personal life and struggles, with the first episode premiering on her YouTube Channel on August 5, 2013. The series received positive reviews from critics. Michael Logan of ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

'' appreciated the web series, calling it "terrific and audacious" and saying that "there's never a dull moment in the life of Michelle Stafford". Jamey Giddens of the entertainment website Zap2it said that Stafford is "as viable and fiery as ever", calling ''The Stafford Project'' "insanely-funny". In 2014, Stafford returned to daytime television with the role of Nina Clay, the wife of Dr. Silas Clay (

Michael Easton Michael Easton (born February 15, 1967) is an American-Irish film, television and voice actor, writer, and director. Although the Emmy-nominated actor may be best known for his work on the series ''Ally McBeal'', ''VR.5,'' ''Total Recall 2070, O ...

) on the ABC soap opera, '' General Hospital''. Stafford's long-rumored addition to the cast was made official when her character Nina, the presumed-dead wife of Silas, suddenly appeared at the very end of the episode on May 1, 2014. In 2015, she co-starred alongside Tom Sizemore in the independent film ''Durant's Never Closes''. In 2016, Stafford launched a skincare product line called Skin Nation. The products are said to be organic, natural, gluten free, and certified cruelty-free by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). In 2019, it was announced that she would leave ''General Hospital'' as Nina Reeves and reprise her role of Phyllis Summers on ''The Young & the Restless''. Various citations concerning the casting switch of Phyllis Summers: * *

Personal life

Stafford's first child, a daughter, Natalia Scout Lee Stafford, was born via a gestational surrogate in December 2009. In October 2015, Stafford had a second child, Jameson Jones Lee Stafford, a son.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Michelle Stafford's Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stafford, Michelle 1968 births Actresses from Chicago American Scientologists American soap opera actresses Daytime Emmy Award winners Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series winners Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series winners Living people 20th-century American actresses American film actresses American television actresses 21st-century American actresses Soap opera actresses Web series producers